Peer-reviewed article
Video and digital games: Historical controversies, benefits, and risks for children and adolescents
Hanna David ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This review looks at how video and digital games have been debated since the late 1970s and brings together current research on their effects on children and adolescents. Moderate, purposeful gaming is linked to better visuospatial skills, attention, problem-solving, mood and social connection. Excessive or compulsive gaming is linked to injuries, poor sleep, problematic gaming and worse mental-health and school outcomes. The link between violent games and serious real-world aggression is contested, with recent studies finding small effects. The review concludes that outcomes depend on how long, what, in what context and in what pattern children play.
Key points
- Early debate portrayed gaming as a cause of injury, addiction, aggression, social isolation, academic problems and moral decline.
- Moderate, purposeful gaming may improve visuospatial abilities, attentional control, problem-solving, mood regulation and social connection.
- Gaming-based interventions have shown therapeutic potential for depressive symptoms and attention-related difficulties in young people.
- Risks include repetitive-strain injuries, sleep disruption, problematic gaming, and adverse mental-health and academic outcomes when gaming is excessive or compulsive.
- Evidence on violent games and serious real-world aggression is contested, with recent research showing relatively small effects.
Limitations
The abstract does not state the review method, number of studies, or the countries and age groups covered, so we cannot judge the strength of the evidence or how well it applies to children in Africa or elsewhere. It gives no effect sizes.
Abstract
Video and digital games have been the focus of sustained public and scientific debate since their commercial emergence in the late 1970s, particularly regarding their effects on children and adolescents. Early public and scientific discourse frequently portrayed gaming as a source of physical injury, addiction, aggression, social isolation, academic problems, and moral decline. However, subsequent empirical research has produced a substantially more differentiated picture of both the benefits and risks of gaming. This review examines the historical foundations of controversies surrounding video and digital games and synthesizes contemporary evidence concerning their cognitive, emotional, social, therapeutic, and physical effects. . Research indicates that moderate, purposeful gaming may improve visuospatial abilities, attentional control, problem-solving, mood regulation, social connection, and selected educational outcomes. Gaming-based interventions have also demonstrated therapeutic potential, particularly for depressive symptoms and attention-related difficulties among young people. At the same time, important risks remain, especially when gaming becomes excessive, compulsive, or disruptive to everyday functioning. These include repetitive-strain injuries, sleep disruption, problematic gaming, and adverse mental-health and academic outcomes. Evidence concerning violent games and serious real-world aggression remains more contested, with recent research emphasizing relatively small effects and the importance of individual and contextual factors. Overall, the evidence suggests that the developmental consequences of gaming for children and adolescents depend less on gaming itself than on the duration, content, context, and pattern of engagement.