Peer-reviewed article
Academic and Social Behaviour Profile of the Primary School Students who Possess and Play Video Games
Esteban Vázquez Cano, José M. Ramírez‐Hurtado, Paz Díez-Arcón, Carolina Pascual Moscoso ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analyzed how primary school students in Spain differ in their video game use and related academic and social outcomes. Researchers identified two distinct groups: boys who play intensely on consoles, play online with friends, and excel in mathematics, and girls who play moderately on tablets with family members and excel in language subjects. Both groups reported high enjoyment from gaming, though boys showed greater enthusiasm.
Key points
- Boys who frequently play video games tend to perform better in Mathematics
- Girls who play video games tend to perform better in Spanish Language and Literature
- Boys typically use gaming consoles connected to TV screens, while girls prefer tablets
- Boys more commonly play video games online with friends; girls more often play with family members
- Both groups play video games for more than two hours on weekends and report feeling very happy while playing
Limitations
The study does not establish causal relationships between video game use and academic performance, nor does it examine potential negative effects or long-term outcomes. The research is descriptive and based on correlational patterns rather than intervention testing.
Abstract
Abstract The aim of this research was to analyze the typologies of primary education students with regard to possession and use of video games, and the possible psycho-emotional and educational implications. To identify the different typologies, a latent class model using Latent Gold v4.5 software was applied in order to model relations between the variables observed, assuming that the structure of underlying relations was explained by a latent categorical variable (not observed). The results revealed two clearly differentiated clusters: one formed of boys who get better marks in Mathematics, usually play video games with gaming consoles for the TV screen, usually play video games online with friends, play video games for more than two hours at weekends, feel very happy when playing video games, and whose first choice of free-time activity is to play video games; the other consisted of girls who get better marks in Spanish Language and Literature, usually play video games on a tablet, usually with a family member, play video games for more than two hours at weekends, feel very happy playing video games, though to a slightly lesser extent than boys, and whose first choice of free-time activity is not usually to play video games.