Video Gaming: General and Pathological Use (PDF; 628 KB)
Source: Harris Interactive (Trends & Tudes)
From press release:

Reports from around the world suggest that gaming addiction is real and on the rise. Nationally, 8.5 percent of youth gamers (ages 8 to 18) can be classified as pathological or clinically “addicted” to playing video games. Most youth play video games and many feel that they may be playing too much. Nearly one-quarter (23%) of youth say they that have felt “addicted to video games”, with about one-third of males (31%) and a little more than one in ten females (13%) feeling “addicted.” Forty-four percent of youth also report that their friends are addicted to games. With nearly 8 in 10 American youth (81%) playing video games at least one time per month, including 94 percent of all boys playing, this certainly raises concerns about video game addiction.

These are just some of the results of a new survey of 1,178 U.S. children and teenagers (ages 8 to 18) conducted online by Harris Interactive® between January 17 to 23, 2007. This study is the first to document a national prevalence rate of pathological video game use among youth.

Video game playing time differs by age as well as gender. The average 8- to 12 year-old now plays 13 hours of video games per week, while the average 13- to 18 year old plays 14 hours of video games per week. There are large differences between boys and girls, as tween (those ages 8 to 12) and teen boys average 16 hours and 18 hours per week, respectively. Tween girls average 10 hours per week and teen girls average 8 hours per week. Time matters because 8- to 18-year-olds who spend more time playing video games are more likely to perform more poorly in school, get into physical fights and/or be physically heavier.

See also: Nielsen Says Video Game Penetration In U.S. TV Households Grew 18% During The Past Two Years

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Social and cultural issues, Sports, recreation and leisure, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.