Adults Playing Video Games: Health Risks?
Survey Shows Those Who Play Video
Games Report More Depression Than
Non-Gamers
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 20, 2009 -- Adults who play video games may be increasing their risk for
health problems, a new study shows.
A survey published in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that gamers reported more depression
than non-gamers; the video game players also
said they were more sedentary than non-players.
The study researchers included the CDC's James B. Weaver
III, PhD, MPH, and
colleagues at Emory and Andrews universities. They surveyed 562 people between
the ages of 19 and 90 in the Tacoma-Seattle, Wash., area, where Internet usage
is highest in the nation.
Among their findings:
- 45.1% of respondents reported playing video games.
- Male gamers had higher body mass indexes than male
non-gamers.
- Males and females alike use gaming and the Internet
for social support.
- Adult gamers report more "poor mental health days,"
were more sedentary, and less outgoing.
- Men were more likely than women to be gamers.
- Gamers reported more depression than people who didn't
play computer games.
- Gamers reported they spent more time on the Internet than non-gamers.
Women surveyed seemed to use video games for "self- medication" and mood
management, but that's not necessarily bad, Weaver tells WebMD.
It's just that women may have latched onto another method of mood management,
and that's possibly a positive step, he says.
"Women may be using video games as a form of digital medication," he tells
WebMD. "Women are particularly good at using media to help manage their mood.
Women who are experiencing mental health challenges are actually trying to
improve their condition through self-distraction."
The researchers also found that gamers feel they get less social support from
friends and family members, and more from fellow gamers.
Weaver says in a news release that scientists need to do more research to see
if there are "digital opportunities" to promote health and prevent disease.
SOURCES:
News release, American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Weaver, J. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, October 2009; vol 37.
James
Weaver, PhD, MPH, National Center for Health Marketing, CDC.
© 2009 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Depression RSS