Time spent playing video games is not a reliable predictor of childhood behavioral issues, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland.
Researchers used data from Britain's enormous Millennium Cohort study to examine how time watching television and playing video games might affect social development in children between the ages of five and seven. The Cohort study is a longitudinal survey following the lives of 19,000 babies born in 2000 and 2001.
The mothers of about 11,000 children reported daily television and or video game hours at age five.
Watching television for at least three hours a day correlated with a slight (0.13 point) increase in behavioral issues, compared with those who watched under an hour, but video games were not associated with any difference in behavior.
“No associations were found between either type of screen time and emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems or prosocial behavior,” researchers wrote.
Read the full study HERE.