Adolescents and video games

Abstract

The appearance of video games as a form of child and adolescent entertainment has raised a great deal of debate and concern about the possible negative consequences they could have on the development and the behaviour of those that play with them on a regular basis. In this study, 207 adolescents aged 10 to 17 from different primary and secondary schools in Huelva were selected. The results indicate that this activity is quite extended among youths, with certain differences related to gender: most video game players are male, and they spend more than twice the time on this activity than female players. On the other hand, video players and non video players do not differ significantly on academic achievement or the basic structure of personality.