Most parents struggle with getting children to stop playing video games all day because it can negatively affect their development. Luckily, a study by a group of researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Paris Descartes University found that playing video games can actually benefit young children.
According to an article from sciencedaily.com, the team studied the association between the amount of time spent playing video games and their cognitive skills, social skills and mental health. They used data from the School Children Mental Health Europe project conducted in 6 European countries among children aged 6 to 11 years old.
Their results showed that the children who were classified under high video game usage were associated with 1.75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning. Those kids also had 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence. The researchers did not see any significant associations with any mental health problems reported by children, mothers or teachers.
The factors included were the child's age, gender, and how many siblings they have. Children raised by single mothers who were inactive and psychologically distressed were found to spend less time playing video games.
The participants, who also included parents and teachers, filled out questionnaires while the children answered questions using an interactive tool. Those under the classification of high video game usage were also found to have decreases in peer relationship issues and prosocial deficits.
"These results indicate that children who frequently play video games may be socially cohesive with peers and integrated into the school community," according to Katherine M. Keyes, Ph.D., assistant professor from the Mailman School of Public Health. "We caution against over-interpretation, however, as setting limits on screen usage remain and important component of parental responsibility as an overall strategy for student success," she noted.
Playing video games is not a solution to improve children's cognitive skills but a way for them to engage in brain-stimulating activities. However, more research on how these video games stimulate development among children could be further investigated.
