Adult Videogamers and Health

A new article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine points to some correlations between depression in women and high BMI and Internet use in men and the likelihood that they played videogames. I’m fairly certain that the original article is careful about the distinction between correlation and causality, but this tends to get lost in popular press accounts. The research was a survey–we are not talking about randomly assigning people to videogame and non-videogame groups and then seeing what happens. I would also like to see the authors use television as a control. My guess is that chronic TV-watchers are far worse off than the videogame players.

At least videogames and computers are interactive...

Videogame playing is highly self-selected. It is very likely that depressed women choose very different activities than non-depressed women. Depression is often accompanied by fatigue and lethargy, which is not exactly conducive to heading to the gym for a brisk one-hour kickboxing session. As far as the high BMI men go, I doubt there is much discrepancy between men who watch an equal amount of TV and the men playing videogames, although my guess is that the men playing videogames and using the Internet are a great deal smarter than the ones watching TV.

Our own research suggests that people carry their existing predispositions with them into new technologies. In a poster session for last May’s APS, our student group discussed how lonely people had fewer offline friends and fewer online friends. In contrast to the idea that you can be someone different online, we found that people were consistent across these domains.

I’ve always been concerned that psychology and medicine have a biased starting point in the discussion of videogames. Somehow, there is a compulsion to find something terribly wrong with them and the people who enjoy them. My impression is quite the opposite. Many of my students have related that videogames sparked an interest in computers and how they work, maintained their attention spans, taught them to read (you have to read what the character is saying to get to the next level), and provided a lot of pleasure. Anyone who views videogames as a solitary, antisocial endeavor must be oblivious to the phenomenon that is World of Warcraft. Videogaming has been shown to make valuable contributions to rehabilitation following neural injury and even to improve spatial skills.

Yes, we’re all too sedentary, but let’s look at the whole picture, not just videogames. On my weekend trip to LA, I happened to turn on the hotel TV. Junk, junk, and more junk. Offensive, mind-numbing junk, with the major exception of a replay of last years’ USC-Penn State Rose Bowl game. You are what you think, and if watching TV is what America is doing, we’re in deep trouble.