Electronic Games, Addiction to

A growing number of reports in the popular press have examined excessive use of video games among children and adolescents (“joystick junkies”). Video games rely on multiple reinforcements in that different features may be differently rewarding to different people. These rewards can be intrinsic (e.g., improving a high score, beating a friend's high score, getting one's name in the “Hall of Fame,” mastering the machine) or extrinsic (e.g., peer admiration). To date, there has been very little research directly investigating electronic game (video game) addiction, although almost all studies have concentrated on adolescent use. For instance, Mark Griffiths and Nigil Hunt surveyed 400 adolescents (12 to 16 years of age) to establish their level of dependence on a scale adapted from the DSM criteria for pathological gambling. Scores indicated that one in five children were dependent on computer games. Furthermore, 7% of the sample claimed they played more than 30 hours a week. Similar findings have also been reported in other studies. There is no doubt that, for a minority of children and adolescents, video games can take up considerable time, although there is still much debate as to whether very excessive video game play is a true addiction.

There have been many reports of behavioral signs of video game dependency among adolescents, including stealing money to play arcade games or to buy new game cartridges, skipping school and sacrificing social activities to play video games, not doing homework, getting bad marks at school, becoming irritable or annoyed if unable to play, and playing longer than intended. Other, indirect evidence of addictive and excessive play comes from the many health consequences that have been reported in the literature. These have included photosensitive epilepsy, auditory hallucinations, enuresis, encoprisis, wrist pain, neck pain, elbow pain, tenosynovitis (also called “nintendinitis”), hand-arm vibration syndrome, repetitive strain injuries, and obesity.

Other speculative negative aspects of video game playing that have been reported include the belief that video game play is socially isolating and prevents children from developing social skills. However, studies by Carol Phillips and colleagues and by others have found no difference in social interactions [Page 264]between players and nonplayers. Adverse effects are likely to be relatively minor and temporary, resolving spontaneously with decreased frequency of play, or likely to affect only a small subgroup of children and adolescents. Excessive players run the highest risk of developing health problems, although more research appears to be much needed.