An extensive study conducted by Oxford University and published today, Wednesday, concluded that there are no consequences for the time that video game users spend playing on their quality of life.
The study, which followed nearly 40,000 gamers over the age of 18 for six weeks, found “little evidence”, or “no evidence at all”, of a “causal relationship between video games and quality of life.”
The researchers, whose study was published in the journal “The Royal Society”, explained that “it is possible that the average effects of video games on the quality of life of a player are very limited, either negative or positive,” noting that “more data is needed to determine the potential risks.”
Players were asked about their feelings in daily life, including their level of happiness, sadness, anger or frustration.
The researchers also drew on playtime data provided by the designers of seven video games, from the simulation game Animal Crossing to the open-world car racing game The Crew 2.
The study noted that the consequences of video games, whether positive or negative, are only felt if the player spends more than ten hours playing each day.
These findings contrast with those of a study conducted by the same university in 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to which playing video games may be beneficial for mental health, unlike this study, which indicates that there is no link.
Video games, especially those that are competed online, are regularly taken to affect the mental health of players, and previous studies have criticized the effect of very long gaming sessions on youngsters.
“One thing is certain, there is not enough data and evidence at the moment to allow public authorities to enact laws and regulations aimed at restricting the playing of video games in certain groups of the population,” said Matti Faury, who co-authored the new study.
(AFP)