by Video games are a huge part of many kids’ lives. However, it’s important to know how these games can affect them.
There is evidence that playing violent video games makes kids think and act more aggressively. Whether these changes are temporary or long-term is still up for debate. However, researchers agree that the more time kids spend playing violent games, the more aggression they exhibit.
1. Increased Aggression
Many studies have linked video game playing to aggressive behavior in teens. The American Academy of Pediatrics cites this research in its 2015 policy statement, calling for parental steps to limit children’s gaming time and encourage prosocial games. However, other scholars, including those focused on adolescent mental health, disagree. They argue that the APA’s policy is overstated and misguided. They also note that many risk factors for aggression and violence exist outside of video games, such as racism and ethnic hatred, certain psychiatric disorders, adverse social environments, and easy access to guns and other lethal weapons.
Those who support the APA’s position argue that violent video games increase aggressive behavior by switching players into an aggressive mindset. Experiments show that students who play violent games become more numb and desensitized, which makes them more likely to engage in aggressive actions. They often act without thinking and disregard moral boundaries, according to a study from Iowa State University.
In the same experiment, students were asked to blast their classmates with loud noises, and those who played violent games blasted more of their classmates than those who played nonviolent games. They were also more likely to be sent to the principal’s office for fighting. Nonetheless, some researchers have criticized this and other studies that link video games to aggression, arguing that they are flawed in several ways.
2. Decreased Empathy
Playing violent video games increases the risk that kids will become desensitized to emotional stimuli. They will become less able to identify with other people’s feelings and emotions, including anger (Gentile et al 2016). They may also have trouble understanding why other people do bad things, such as murder. These cognitive and emotional changes can lead to a decrease in prosocial behavior (Carnagey, Anderson, Bushman, 2007).
One study tracked 430 third- through fifth-graders and their media habits over the course of a year. At two points in the school year, students were asked to answer questions about their thinking and actions concerning real-life violence. Over time, researchers found that students who played more violent video games showed a greater desire to hurt others. These students were rated as more physically and verbally aggressive by their peers and teachers (Anderson et al 2010).
Studies have shown that playing violent video games decreases children’s empathy toward other people and can make them more likely to act aggressively after the game is over. For instance, in a study that asked participants to “blast” strangers with a loud noise, players who’d recently played violent games chose to blast the strangers for longer and louder.
It’s important to remember that while some studies have linked violent video games to negative cognitions and behaviors, other experiments have not (Kuhn et al 2019). And many observational studies, which track kids over months or years, have shown that aggression tends to decrease when children’s media diet is changed to feature more prosocial content.
3. Increased Anxiety
Whether it’s in video games or real life, kids are deeply influenced by violence. Studies have shown that kids who play violent games become immune or numb to the violence they see, imitate it and act aggressively toward others. This is especially true if they are already aggressive, and it may be why so many perpetrators of mass shootings played violent video games.
A study of 161 9- to 12-year olds found that playing a violent video game made kids more aggressive in general, even when they weren’t actively engaged in a game. In fact, the more time they spent playing, the worse their behavior got. The researchers believe that this is because the violent games desensitize children to real-world violence. Then, when they encounter a real-life threat, they don’t recognize it.
A similar study by Iowa State University psychology graduate students Edward Swing and Muniba Saleem and a colleague, Brad Bushman, also of ISU, found that children who play first person violent video games get more anxious as they age. This is a concern because anxiety can lead to depression and other mental health problems. The authors of this study recommend that parents talk to their kids about how they are using video games and monitor their behavior. They should consider limiting the amount of time kids spend playing, and making sure they are using the games for educational purposes and not just to entertain themselves.
4. Increased Depression
Video games are hugely popular among children, teens and adults. The latest titles and consoles often top wish lists, dominate conversations at school, and are discussed around the dinner table. Some parents worry that playing violent video games makes kids aggressive and can lead to violence in the real world.
Those concerns are not without foundation. In one study, researchers found that adolescent boys and girls who play violent video games show a greater tendency toward aggression and less prosocial behavior than those who play nonviolent games. Another study followed more than 3,000 children in 3rd, 4th, and 7th grade for three years. It found that children who play violent video games are more likely to be depressed than those who do not play them.
But skeptics of these and other experiments argue that the evidence is inconclusive, or suggests only a small effect. And they point out that the depression and aggression studies used a cross-sectional design, which cannot determine whether the increase in depression or aggression was caused by the brief exposure to violence in the video game, or by the prior Beck Depression Inventory-II score, collected two hours before the experiment.
A psychology professor at Texas A&M International University, Chris Ferguson, agrees that the changes in behavior he has seen among students after they play violent video games are minor. But he also disagrees with the idea that senseless video game violence leads to senseless violence in the real world.
