When we were young, we were often told not to spend too much time in front of a screen choosing instead to play outdoors. This advice may not seem to be in our best interests.
A new study reveals that Male teens who play video games frequently are 24.2% less likely to develop symptoms of depression. The survey followed 11,341 11-year-olds for three years and tracked their digital activities.
The study found, however, that video games did not affect boys who participated in physical activity. This shows that video games only affect those male teenagers who are not physically active.
“More frequent use of a video game was consistently associated with fewer depressive symptoms in boys with low physical activity, but not in those with high physical activity,” the study said.
The effect does not stand up for female teens
Another interesting finding was the fact that teenage girls were adversely affected by playing video games. “In girls, compared to less than once a month / ever, social media use most days at age 11 was associated with depression scores 13% higher at age 14 , “the study wrote.
The research gave no reasons for these conclusions but one might believe that girls tend to be more social creatures asking the company of others to stay emotionally healthy. Video games by nature are usually one-on-one activities where physical communication is limited.
The research also did not say whether it took into account other factors while conducting the study such as the family situation of the teenagers and popularity levels. Many factors can cause depression and the study does not make clear how they managed to separate video games as the sole source for teenage depression.
However, it does provide an interesting insight into video games, one that would benefit from further study. The research was published in the journal Cambridge University Press.