# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Do Video Games Cause Violence? 9 Pros and Cons

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Proponents say playing violent video games causes more aggression. Opponents say the games are a convenient scapegoat for real-life violence.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Do Games Like ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Cause Real-World Violence?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many members of the media are quick to blame video games, with or without data to back up their claims.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Experts are divided about the potential harm, but agree on some steps parents can take to protect children.

Blood and gore. Intense violence. Strong sexual content. Use of drugs. These are just a few of the phrases that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) uses to describe the content of several games in the Grand Theft Auto series, one of the most popular video game series among teenagers. The Pew Research Center reported in 2008 that 97% of youths ages 12 to 17 played some type of video game, and that two-thirds of them played action and adventure games that tend to contain violent content. (Other research suggests that boys are more likely to use violent video games, and play them more frequently, than girls.) A separate analysis found that more than half of all video games rated by the ESRB contained violence, including more than 90% of those rated as appropriate for children 10 years or older.

Given how common these games are, it is small wonder that mental health clinicians often find themselves fielding questions from parents who are worried about the impact of violent video games on their children.

The view endorsed by organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is that exposure to violent media (including video games) can contribute to real-life violent behavior and harm children in other ways. But other researchers have questioned the validity or applicability of much of the research supporting this view. They argue that most youths are not affected by violent video games. What both sides of this debate agree on is that it is possible for parents to take steps that limit the possible negative effects of video games.

Key points

Much of the research on violent video game use relies on measures to assess aggression that don't correlate with real-world violence. Some studies are observational and don't prove cause and effect.

Federal crime statistics suggest that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have soared.

Parents can protect children from potential harm by limiting use of video games and taking other common-sense precautions.

One view

In its most recent policy statement on media violence, which includes discussion of video games as well as television, movies, and music, the AAP cites studies that link exposure to violence in the media with aggression and violent behavior in youths. The AAP policy describes violent video games as one of many influences on behavior, noting that many children's television shows and movies also contain violent scenes. But the authors believe that video games are particularly harmful because they are interactive and encourage role-playing. As such, the authors fear that these games may serve as virtual rehearsals for actual violence.

Both the AAP and AACAP reason that children learn by observing, mimicking, and adopting behaviors - a basic principle of social learning theory. These organizations express concern that exposure to aggressive behavior or violence in video games and other media may, over time, desensitize youths by numbing them emotionally, cause nightmares and sleep problems, impair school performance, and lead to aggressive behavior and bullying.

A 2001 report of the U.S. Surgeon General on the topic of youth violence made a similar judgment. Some meta-analyses of the literature - reviewing psychological research studies and large observational studies - have found an association between violent video games and increased aggressive thinking and behavior in youths. And some casual observers go further, assuming that tragic school shootings prove a link between such games and real-world aggression.

Video game use among American teens

Source: PEW Internet & American Life Project, September 2008.

A more nuanced view

In recent years, however, other researchers have challenged the popular view that violent video games are harmful. Several of them contributed papers to a special issue of the Review of General Psychology, published in June 2010 by the American Psychological Association.

In one paper, Dr. Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor at Texas A&M International University, argued that many studies on the issue of media violence rely on measures to assess aggression that don't correlate with real-world violence - and even more important, many are observational approaches that don't prove cause and effect. He also cited data from federal criminal justice agencies showing that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have soared.

Other researchers have challenged the association between violent video game use and school shootings, noting that most of the young perpetrators had personality traits, such as anger, psychosis, and aggression, that were apparent before the shootings and predisposed them to violence. These factors make it more difficult to accept the playing of violent games as an independent risk factor. A comprehensive report of targeted school violence commissioned by the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Education concluded that more than half of attackers demonstrated interest in violent media, including books, movies, or video games. However, the report cautioned that no particular behavior, including interest in violence, could be used to produce a "profile" of a likely shooter.

The U.S. Department of Justice has funded research at the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital to better determine what impact video games have on young people. Although it is still in the preliminary stages, this research and several other studies suggest that a subset of youths may become more aggressive after playing violent video games. However, in the vast majority of cases, use of violent video games may be part of normal development, especially in boys - and a legitimate source of fun too. Given the likelihood of individual variability, it may be useful to consider the impact of video games within three broad domains: personality, situation, and motivation.

Personality. Two psychologists, Dr. Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Dr. Charlotte Markey of Rutgers University, have presented evidence that some children may become more aggressive as a result of watching and playing violent video games, but that most are not affected. After reviewing the research, they concluded that the combination of three personality traits might be most likely to make an individual act and think aggressively after playing a violent video game. The three traits they identified were high neuroticism (prone to anger and depression, highly emotional, and easily upset), disagreeableness (cold, indifferent to other people), and low levels of conscientiousness (prone to acting without thinking, failing to deliver on promises, breaking rules).

Situation. Dr. Cheryl Olson, cofounder of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Mental Health and Media, led a study of 1,254 students in public schools (most were ages 12 to 14) in South Carolina and Pennsylvania. The researchers found that certain situations increased exposure to violent video games - such as locating game consoles and computers in children's bedrooms, and allowing older siblings to share games with younger ones. In this study, children who played video games often with older siblings were twice as likely as other children to play mature-rated games (considered suitable for ages 17 and older).

Motivation. In a three-year study, a team led by Dr. Mizuko Ito, a cultural anthropologist at the University of California, Irvine, both interviewed and observed the online behavior of 800 youths. The researchers concluded that video game play and other online activities have become so ubiquitous among young people that they have altered how young people socialize and learn.

Although adults tend to view video games as isolating and antisocial, other studies found that most young respondents described the games as fun, exciting, something to counter boredom, and something to do with friends. For many youths, violent content is not the main draw. Boys in particular are motivated to play video games in order to compete and win. Seen in this context, use of violent video games may be similar to the type of rough-housing play that boys engage in as part of normal development. Video games offer one more outlet for the competition for status or to establish a pecking order.

What parents can do

Parents can protect their children from potential harm from video games by following a few commonsense strategies - particularly if they are concerned that their children might be vulnerable to the effects of violent content. These simple precautions may help:

Check the ESRB rating to better understand what type of content a video game has.

Play video games with children to better understand the content, and how children react.

Place video consoles and computers in common areas of the home, rather than in children's bedrooms.

Set limits on the amount of time youths can play these games. The AAP recommends two hours or less of total screen time per day, including television, computers, and video games.

Encourage participation in sports or school activities in which youths can interact with peers in person rather than online.

Video games share much in common with other pursuits that are enjoyable and rewarding, but may become hazardous in certain contexts. Parents can best protect their children by remaining engaged with them and providing limits and guidance as necessary.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence (Facts for Families, updated Aug. 2006).

American Academy of Pediatrics. "Policy Statement - Media Violence," Pediatrics (Nov. 2009): Vol. 124, No. 5, pp. 1495-503.

Anderson CA, et al. "Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review," Psychological Bulletin (March 2010): Vol. 136, No. 2, pp. 151-73.

Ferguson CJ. "Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good?" Review of General Psychology (June 2010): Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 68-81.

Ito M, et al. Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 2008).

Lenhart A, et al. Teens, Video Games, and Civics (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2008).

Markey PM, et al. "Vulnerability to Violent Video Games: A Review and Integration of Personality Research," Review of General Psychology (June 2010): Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 82-91.

Olson CK. "Children's Motivations for Video Game Play in the Context of Normal Development," Review of General Psychology (June 2010): Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 180-87.

Olson CK, et al. "Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls," Journal of Adolescent Health (July 2007): Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 77-83.

For more references, please see /mentalextra.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Violent Video Games and Young People - Harvard Health Publishing - Harvard Health

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Parents, educators, and mental health professionals share concern about the potential effects of violent video games on children. Researchers are divided on the issue, but agree that parental oversight is key.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What are the effects of violent video games? Do they contribute to the development of aggression? Do they increase a child's risk of behavior problems? Researchers have debated these question for decades, and they are still controversial. One of the central problems is establishing causation in the absence of randomized, controlled experiments that track long-term outcomes. We simply don't have that kind of information.

Instead, most studies fall into one of two categories:

Experimental studies that measure immediate effects. f we randomly assign people to play violent games, do they behave differently immediately afterwards?

Correlational studies that compare fans of violent games with other people. Are devoted players of violent video games more aggressive or violent in real life?

For both types of study, researchers have reported links between game play and aggression, and that's worthy of our concern. But important caveats apply.

1. The short-term effects are just that - short-term effects that appear to wear off after a few minutes.

It isn't clear if or how they might related to long-term behavior problems.
2. While the correlation between long-term game play and aggression is real, the effect size is small, and hard to interpret.
For instance, it's likely that some of the effect reflects the fact that aggressive individuals tend to seek out aggressive entertainment. It's not clear that long-term exposure to violent games makes players more likely to engage in physical violence in the real world.

3. What do we have in mind when we refer to a "violent" video game? There are different types and degrees of violence, and it's reasonable to think that these differences may have different effects on players.

Studies often lump together many different kinds of games, which makes it hard for us to know which, if any, games are especially problematic. We need more research to answer this question.

4. When it comes to child outcomes, there is more at stake than whether or not games make kids more physically violent.

It might be that violent games don't promote physical violence per se, but instead have harmful effects on mood. Are some games too stressful or disturbing?

It's also possible that certain violent games encourage kids to internalize negative stereotypes about race and gender. And there's reason to think that games featuring gun violence could encourage children to engage in dangerous behavior with real guns.

So the research doesn't lend itself to easy conclusions, nor does it favor extreme views.

On the one hand, skeptics are right to argue that the evidence for long-term outcomes is either inconclusive, or suggestive of a small effect. In particular, there is no convincing evidence that playing these games leads kids to commit serious acts of violence.

On the other hand, experiments indicate that violent video games do tend to switch players into a more aggressive mode, at least temporarily. This contrasts with prosocial games that tend to make people behave with more kindness.

And many important questions remain to be answered - particularly for children, who aren't typically the subjects of experiments on the effects of violent video games.

In the end, the takeaway is that parents are well-advised to preview games, and make sure the content is appropriate for their children, and consistent with their values.

Here is a more detailed look at the evidence.

The short-term effects of violent video games on social behavior

A number of experiments show that adults feel more hostile after playing violent games-especially games that simulate real-life situations (Bartlett et al 2007; Bartlett and Rodeheffer 2009; Bartlett et al 2009).

There is also evidence that playing violent games can make people behave more aggressively immediately afterwards.

For example, in one experiment, researchers randomly assigned 77 adult volunteers to play either a violent video game or non-violent alternative. Then, after 20 minutes, the researchers gave players an opportunity to blast a stranger with loud noise. Players who'd spent time with the violent game chose longer, louder blasts (Hassan et al 2012).

Other experiments have found that the effects depend on personal traits, like the propensity to experience anger. Anger-prone people may be more likely to respond to video game violence with post-game aggression (Englehardt et al 2011). There is also evidence that playing an aggressive hero results in less post-game aggression than playing an aggressive villain (Sauer et al 2015).

Do children respond similarly?

Researchers haven't performed identical experiments on kids, so we don't know if they would blast strangers with distressingly loud noises. But in one study, boys who had been assigned to play a violent video game behaved differently afterwards. During a free play session, they were rated by their peers as more aggressive. The same game experience did not appear to affect peer ratings of the behavior of girls (Polman et al 2008).

In another study, researchers randomly assigned some kids to play a violent video game, and other kids to play a nonviolent game in which player takes on the role of a family helper. Immediately after playing their video games, kids were given the opportunity to help or hinder a peer from earning money. Kids who'd just played the helping game chose to be helpful. Kids who'd just played the violent video game made choices that were more antagonistic (Saleem et al 2012).

And, more recently, researchers randomly assigned 6-year-olds to play either Street Fighter II or Tetris for a period of 20 minutes (Zhang et al 2021). Immediately afterwards, the kids were interviewed about their feelings of anger. In addition, they were shown a picture of child "eating peppers" who looked "very uncomfortable." How many spoons of hot sauce powder should we make the child eat? Kids could choose a range of options, from zero spoons (no aggression) up to five spoons (high aggression).

As it turned out, kids assigned to play the violent game (Street Fighter II) experienced substantially higher levels of anger afterwards and - for boys only - this heightened anger was linked with a small increase in aggressive thoughts (as measured by the desire to administer more hot sauce powder to the child in the photograph).

There is also research suggesting that video game violence can have a short-term effect on a player's response to people in trouble.

In an experiment on college students, researchers Brad Bushman and Craig Anderson assigned participants to play either

a game featuring violent combat (e.g., Duke Nukem or Mortal Kombat)

a nonviolent video game with little or no social content (e.g., Glider Pro, 3-D Pinball)

After 20 minutes of play, the participants were left alone in a room while they filled out a lengthy (and bogus) questionnaire about video games.

Then researchers played a little trick: They staged a fake fight in the hallway outside using professional actors. The fight was loud and disruptive. Actor 1 was heard to threaten Actor 2. There was a crashing noise. Someone kicked the door. And study participants also heard this dialogue:

Actor 2: (groan)

Actor 1: Ohhhh, did I hurt you?

Actor 2: It's my ankle, you bastard, it's twisted or something...I can't even stand up!

Actor 1: Don't look to me for pity.

Actor 2: You could at least help me get off the floor.

Actor 1: You've gotta be kidding. Help you? I'm outta here [slams the door and leaves].

Participants didn't know that the fight was phony. How did they react? It depended on which video game that had been playing.

People who had been playing violent games were more likely to pretend they didn't hear the fight. When they did acknowledge the fight, they rated it as less serious and they took longer to help the victim (Bushman and Anderson 2009).

Other experiments indicate that prosocial games have the reverse effect, which you can read about in my article, "The effects of video games on altruism." So it seems possible that games can alter our responses to people in the real world - at least for a short time.

But the emphasis is on "short," because these experiments don't tell us about long-term outcomes. In fact, research suggests these short-term effects wear off within ten minutes (Bartlett et al 2009). What about the long-term?

Do violent games contribute to long-term behavior problems?

An experiment on adults - conducted over a period of 2 months - found no adverse behavioral or psychological effects associated with playing violent video games (Kühn et al 2019). But kids are more impressionable than adults. So what about youth?

Christopher Ferguson has argued that the case for long-term effects is weak (Ferguson 2007; Ferguson 2015). He notes that published experiments have tested only short-term effects, and there haven't been any experimental tests of the long-term effects of video games.

Some observational studies-which tracked the same kids for many months-have reported correlations between gaming and aggression. But of course we have to be cautious about interpreting these studies. It's likely, for instance, that aggression makes people more interested in playing violent games.

Indeed, a study of kids in Belgium and the Netherlands found that boys who were rated as less empathic and more aggressive were especially attracted to violent video games (Lemmens et al 2006). And a study of Korean youth found that aggressive and narcissistic personalities were more likely to become addicted to online games (Kim et al 2008).
So maybe the link between aggression and violent video games merely reflects the fact that aggressive people are more likely to seek out violent content.
To test this idea, Ferguson has conducted several long-term studies that attempt to control for personal differences in aggression. None of them have linked exposure to violent games with acts of real-world violence (Ferguson and Wang 2019; Ferguson and Olson 2014; Ferguson et al 2013; Ferguson 2011).
But other researchers have gotten different results.
Tracking children and teens in two countries - Japan and the United States - Craig Anderson and his colleagues found evidence that kids who play violent video games are more likely to admit to aggressive behavior in the real world. This was true even after controlling for initial levels of aggression (Anderson et al 2008).

And researchers in Germany found that teenagers who spent more time playing violent video games at the beginning of a study were more likely to have committed acts of physical aggression 30 months later. By contrast, teenagers who were more physically violent at the beginning of the study were not more likely to play violent video games 30 months later (Möller and Krahé 2009).
In other words, playing violent games was a predictor of later aggression. But being aggressive wasn't a predictor of playing violent games.
Ferguson takes issue with such studies, arguing that self-reports aren't the same as objective measures of aggression and that-in any case-the effects reported by the studies are rather weak, explaining no more than 2% of the difference between aggressive and non-aggressive youth. (Ferguson 2007).

In fact, when Ferguson conducted a meta-analysis of 101 published studies, he found a statistically significant "yet very small effect on aggressive behavior" for both video games in general and violent video games in particular (Ferguson 2017).

In his latest study, he found an effect that was so weak, it would take "27 h/day of M-rated game play to produce clinically noticeable changes in aggression (Fergus and Wang 2019).

Thus, if violent video games have an impact on the development of aggressive behavior problems, the effect does not appear to be important. Not as measured by these studies. There isn't persuasive evidence that video game violence causes kids to commit acts of serious violence in the real world.

But that doesn't mean there are no negative effects. Ferguson's own research acknowledges that something is there.

One explanation for the "very small effect" observed across studies is that only a subset of kids are at risk. In support of this idea, researchers tracking 500 U.S. adolescents over a period of eight years found links between violent video gaming and increases in real-world aggression, but only for kids who fell into certain categories: those who began the study with high levels of aggression, and those who began the study with a combination of moderate levels of aggression and low levels of self-regulation (Coyne et al 2023).

Another possibility is that only a subset of games labeled as "violent" are problematic. As Ferguson notes, part of the trouble is that "violent" is a vague term that's been applied to games as different as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Pac Man (Ferguson 2015).

What about gun violence?

Games featuring guns may make children more curious about guns. Could this lead kids to engage in dangerous behavior in the real world?

Justin Chang and Brad Bushman tested this in a recent experiment on 242 American children (8-12 years old). Each participating child was randomly assigned to play one of three different Minecraft games with a peer:

Kids in the gun condition played a game that featured monsters they could kill with guns.

Kids in the sword condition faced monsters, too, but no guns. They could kill monsters with swords.

Kids in the non-violent condition experienced an entirely non-violent game. There were no monsters, and no weapons.

Then, after 20 minutes of Minecraft play, kids were subjected to a bit of subterfuge.

An adult experimenter would take the children to a new room, a room with a cabinet of toys and games (like Lego blocks and Jenga). The adult told the kids they would be left in the room for 20 minutes, during which time they were free to play with any of the toys and games.

The adult didn't explain that the kids would be monitored by a hidden camera. And the adult didn't mention that there were handguns in the bottom drawer of the cabinet: Two real, disarmed, 9-mm handguns.

What happened?

The kids, who were tested in pairs, almost always found the guns. About half the kids touched a gun, and one third of them pulled the trigger at least once. In these respects, kids didn't differ by condition.

But there was a worrying outcome that did differ by condition - whether kids pulled the trigger while pointing the gun at someone.

Compared with kids in the non-violent condition, kids who had played the gun version of Minecraft were 18 times more likely to pull the trigger at either themselves or their companion.

By contrast, kids who had played the sword version of Minecraft did not show an increased likelihood to pull the trigger at a person (Chang and Bushman 2019).

And other worries? Can violent video games cause emotional distress?

Future research - employing the best-available controls - may enlighten us. Meanwhile, attentive parenting is warranted. Rating systems exist to help parents assess whether a game is appropriate for their children. But games rated as age-appropriate may nonetheless contain content that kids find disturbing (Haniger and Thompsen 2004; Thompson and Haniger 2001), or that adults recognize as sexist or sexualized (Bègue et al 2017). So it pays to take a closer look.

More information

For more information about research on video games, see these pages. In addition, parents can find detailed reviews of specific games on Common Sense Media.

References: Violent video games and parenting

Anderson CA, Sakamoto A, Gentile DA, Ihori N, et al. 2008 Longitudinal Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Japan and the United States. Pediatrics 122(5): 1067-1072.

Barlett C, Branch O, Rodeheffer C, and Harris R. 2009. How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggress Behav. 35(3):225-36.

Barlett CP, Harris RJ, and Baldassaro R. 2007. Longer you play, the more hostile you feel: examination of first person shooter video games and aggression during video game play. Aggress Behav. 33(6):486-97.

Barlett CP and Rodeheffer C. 2009. Effects of realism on extended violent and nonviolent video game play on aggressive thoughts, feelings, and physiological arousal. Aggress Behav. 35(3):213-24.

Bègue L, Sarda E, Gentile DA, Bry C, Roché S. 2017. Video Games Exposure and Sexism in a Representative Sample of Adolescents. Front Psychol. 8:466.

Bushman BJ and Anderson CA. 2009. Comfortably numb: desensitizing effects of violent media on helping others. Psychol Sci. 20(3):273-7.

Chang JH and Bushman BJ. 2019. Effect of Exposure to Gun Violence in Video Games on Children's Dangerous Behavior With Real Guns: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2(5):e194319

Coyne SM, Warburton W, Swit C, Stockdale L, Dyer WJ. 2023. Who is Most at Risk for Developing Physical Aggression After Playing Violent Video Games? An Individual Differences Perspective From Early Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood. J Youth Adolesc. 52(4):719-733.

Engelhardt CR, Bartholow BD, Saults JS. 2011. Violent and nonviolent video games differentially affect physical aggression for individuals high vs. low in dispositional anger. Aggress Behav. 37(6):539-46

Ferguson CJ. 2015. Do Angry Birds Make for Angry Children? A Meta-Analysis of Video Game Influences on Children's and Adolescents' Aggression, Mental Health, Prosocial Behavior, and Academic Performance. Perspect Psychol Sci. 10(5):646-66.

Ferguson CJ. 2011. Video games and youth violence: a prospective analysis in adolescents. J Youth Adolesc. 40(4):377-91.

Ferguson CJ. 2007. The good, the bad and the ugly: a meta-analytic review of positive and negative effects of violent video games. Psychiatr Q. 78(4):309-16.

Ferguson CJ, Garza A, Jerabeck J, Ramos R, and Galindo M. 2013. Not worth the fuss after all? cross-sectional and prospective data on violent video game influences on aggression, visuospatial cognition and mathematics ability in a sample of youth. J Youth Adolesc. 42(1):109-22.

Ferguson CJ and Olson CK. 2014. Video game violence use among "vulnerable" populations: the impact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression or attention deficit symptoms. J Youth Adolesc. 43(1):127-36.

Ferguson CJ, and Wang JCK. 2019. Aggressive Video Games are Not a Risk Factor for Future Aggression in Youth: A Longitudinal Study. J Youth Adolesc. 48(8):1439-1451.

Gentile D. 2009. Pathological video-game use among youth ages 8 to 18: a national study. Psychol Sci. 20(5):594-602.

Gitter SA, Ewell PJ, Guadagno RE, Stillman TF, and Baumeister RF. 2013. Aggress Behav. Virtually justifiable homicide: the effects of prosocial contexts on the link between violent video games, aggression, and prosocial and hostile cognition. 39(5):346-54.

Greitemeyer T and Mügge DO. 2014. Video Games Do Affect Social Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of Violent and Prosocial Video Game Play. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2014 Jan 23. [Epub ahead of print]

Greitemeyer T. 2014. Playing violent video games increases intergroup bias. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 40(1):70-8

Haninger K and Thompson KM. 2004. Content and ratings of teen-rated video games. JAMA. 291(7):856-65.

Hasan Y, Bègue L, Bushman BJ. Violent video games stress people out and make them more aggressive. Aggress Behav. 39(1):64-70.

Kim EJ, Namkoong K, Ku T, and Kim SJ. 2008. The relationship between online game addiction and aggression, self-control and narcissistic personality traits. Eur Psychiatry. 23(3):212-8

Kühn S, Kugler DT, Schmalen K, Weichenberger M, Witt C, Gallinat J. 2019. Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study. Mol Psychiatry. 24(8):1220-1234.

Lemmens JS, Bushman BJ, and Konijn EA. 2006. The appeal of violent video games to lower educated aggressive adolescent boys from two countries. Cyberpsychol Behav.;9(5):638-41.

Mitrofan O, Paul M, and Spencer N. 2009. Is aggression in children with behavioural and emotional difficulties associated with television viewing and video game playing? A systematic review. Child Care Health Dev. 35(1):5-15.

Möller I and Krahé B. 2009. Exposure to violent video games and aggression in German adolescents: a longitudinal analysis. Aggress Behav. 35(1):75-89

Polman H, de Castro BO, and van Aken MA. 2008. Experimental study of the differential effects of playing versus watching violent video games on children's aggressive behavior. Aggress Behav. 34(3):256-64.

Saleem M, Anderson CA, Gentile DA. 2012. Effects of Prosocial, Neutral, and Violent Video Games on Children's Helpful and Hurtful Behaviors. Aggress Behav. 38(4):281-7.

Sauer JD, Drummond A, Nova N. 2015. Violent video games: The effects of narrative context and reward structure on in-game and postgame aggression. J Exp Psychol Appl. 21(3):205-14.

Thompson KM and Haninger K. 2001. Violence in E-rated video games. JAMA. 286(5):591-8.

Zhang Q, Cao Y, and Tian J. 2021. Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Cognition and Aggressive Behavior. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 24(1):5-10.

Written content last modified 3/2023, reflecting the addition of new studies. Portions of the text derive from an earlier version of the article, "Violent video games: What are the effects?" written by the same author.

Image of hand holding game controller while playing a first person shooter game: copyright Parenting Science

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The effects of violent video games: What does the research tell us?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Do violent video games have any negative effects on kids? Parenting Science takes a critical look at the research.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Playing video games doesn’t lead to violent behaviour, study shows

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Analysis of 28 global studies dating back to 2008 found a minuscule positive correlation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. Better vision

Video games can give you an eye for detail.

Researchers from the University of Rochester found people who spent 30 hours training on action games over a month spotted targets on a cluttered screen 80% of the time; non-gamers managed this only 30% of the time. Here are some other ways to improve your visual and mental skills.

Allstate, a US insurer currently trialling video games for older drivers, has found that game software can improve visual skills important for safe driving. National Institutes of Health studies have shown the software reduces crash risk by up to 50%.

2. Brain booster

No longer labelled simply as evil time-wasters, video games are now considered a fast-track to a sharper mind.

When researchers from Iowa State University studied a group of laparoscopic surgeons, they found those who played video games three or more hours a week were 27% faster and made 37% fewer errors.

The surgeons were not playing games specifically designed for them, according to Dr Douglas Gentile, one of the study's authors.

'They were whatever off-the-shelf games they had played in the past,' he said.

3. Painkiller

Games are also proving to be a powerful analgesic.
'Conscious attention is required for the experience of pain,' says Professor David Patterson of the University of Washington's Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.

'Virtual-reality games are unusually attention-grabbing, leaving less attention to process incoming pain signals,' he said.

SnowWorld is the first custom-designed virtual reality game for burns patients.

Patients who play it while having dressings changed report a 40-50% reduction in pain.

4. Obesity

New research from the University of Zaragoza in Spain shows that the risk of being overweight increases with every hour teens spend on virtual play.

Yet games may also be part of the solution.

A study from the University of Hong Kong found playing games in which players mimic the actions involved in sports are a good way of keeping fit.

Players can use about the same energy as they would on a brisk walk.

5. Nintendo thumb

Hours of repeated movements can damage tendons and nerves in the thumbs.

Physiotherapists are also alarmed by what slouching is doing to young spines.

'Most children sit on the floor playing games, or on their beds, or in chairs that are generally too big for them,' says physiotherapist Wendy Emberson.

'If they were at work, health and safety officers would have a field day,' she said. Here are some tips to stay grounded in a digital world.

7. Violence

Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia have found violent games diminish players' brain responses to images of real-life violence.

And when players were given the chance to 'punish' a fake opponent, those who'd recorded the lowest brain responses were most brutal.

But does this relate to real-life aggression? The few studies in this area usually base their measure on 'thoughts', says Jonathan Freedman from the University of Toronto.

'In some studies, if the person playing a violent game has more thoughts of aggression, this is considered an indication that violent games cause aggression.'

Freedman says this is a flimsy link.

'After watching a war movie, you probably have thoughts of war, but no-one would suggest you are more likely to wage war.'

Larry Kutner believes it's time to stop thinking of gamers as cyber-junkies and appreciate their skills.

'A 14-year-old who practises the piano several hours a day is considered a dedicated musician. A 15-year-old who spends every afternoon on basketball is considered a burgeoning athlete. But a teen who spends hours mastering the intricacies of a sophisticated video game may be seen as maladjusted. It makes no sense.'

'Games are natural teachers,' says Douglas Gentile, director of the Media Research Lab at Iowa State University.

'What they teach depends on their content. If they have violent content, players will learn.'

Others, however, say game violence rarely spills over into the real world. A University of Melbourne study on game violence found only a very small number of children who were predisposed to violence showed any change in behaviour.

'The majority did not increase in aggression at all and we're not the first people to find that,' says study leader Grant Devilly. In fact, games may be a way of letting off steam.

Says Kutner, researchers have found most people feel more relaxed after a game-playing session.

Overlooked in much of the debate is the fact that game playing is now an adult business. The average age of a gamer is 30, and likely to reach 42 by 2014. 75% of games sold are rated either G or PG - ie, puzzle games, card games, racing games and adventure games.

Some 80% of parents in games households join their kids in virtual play and experts say this is the best way to understand the medium, the culture and a game's content.

'Play some of the games with your children,' says Kutner.

'You'll learn a lot. You'll also give your kids a chance to reverse their normal relationship with you; they become the experts while you're the awkward novice.' (Here's some basic computer lingo to get you started.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The pros and cons of playing computer video games

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are computer games bad for your health? We discuss the pros and cons of playing computer video games. Here's the evidence for and against.