Eleven-year-old boys who regularly play video games are less likely to develop depressive symptoms later. Girls appear to develop more of these symptoms the more often they are on social media, new research shows.
The study was conducted by University College London (UCL), Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and Australia’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. Key finding: Three years later, boys who play games regularly had 24 percent fewer depressive symptoms than boys who play games less than once a month. The difference was only found in boys who do not exercise much. There was no significant difference in girls.
Stimulate mental health
According to the researchers, this may show that less active boys can get more fun and social interaction from video games. While no causal relationships could be established, the results do suggest that there are positive aspects of video games that can boost mental health, such as problem solving and the opportunity to collaborate.
The effect of the video games was not found in girls, but the researchers did see that when they spent more time on social media, they also developed more depressive symptoms. That effect was not found in boys.
So it may be that different activities affect boys and girls differently, but according to the researchers a possible explanation is also that the time spent on an activity has an influence. The boys in the study played more video games, while the girls spent more on social media.
The study was conducted by University College London (UCL), Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet and Australia’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. Key finding: Three years later, boys who play games regularly had 24 percent fewer depressive symptoms than boys who play games less than once a month. The difference was only found in boys who do not exercise much. In girls, there was no significant difference, which the researchers say may show that less active boys can get more fun and social interaction from video games. While no causal relationships could be established, the results do suggest that there are positive aspects of video games that can boost mental health, such as problem solving and the opportunity to collaborate. the researchers did say that if they spent more time on social media, they also developed more depressive symptoms. This effect was not found in boys, so it may be that different activities influence boys and girls differently, but according to the researchers a possible explanation is also that the time spent on an activity has an influence. The boys in the study played more video games, while the girls spent more on social media.
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