Reevaluating the Impact of Video Games

Jeanne B. Funk, Ph.D.

Summary: The evolution of the video game phenomenon is reviewed and

contemporary data are presented. A survey assessing frequency and location of
play and game preference was completed by 357 seventh- and eighth-grade
students. In this middle-class sample, about two thirds of girls played video games
at least one to two hours per week at home, but only 20% played in arcades. About

90% of boys played in the home and about 50% in arcades. Approximately half of
preferred games were from one of two categories of violent games, while 2% of
preferred games were educational. Parent education about the influence of the
media should include recommendations to monitor game playing and influence
game selection.

Introduction warning from then-Surgeon Gen- of $4 billion. In April 1992, a CBS

eral C. Everett Koop that video News report projected sales would
ideo games have an estab- game playing might contribute to reach $6 billion that same year.
lished position in Ameri- psychopathology.’ In 1983, pre- Nintendo has achieved market
can culture of the 1990s. As liminary research was presented at dominance by developing more re-
alistic effects, using clever market-
professionals with a major influ- an Atari-sponsored conference at

ence on parenting practices, pedi-
atricians must be knowledgeable
about this media phenomenon.
Video games were first intro-
duced in the 1970s. By the end of
that decade, video games had
joined television as a preferred
childhood leisure activity. Adults
responded with concern, and ar-
cade games were actually banned
in some states.’ Predictions of
harmful consequences included a
Department of Pediatrics
Medical College of Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Harvard University. No major ill ing strategies that target children,
effects were identified, and consid- keeping all games and accessories
erable emphasis was placed on the Nintendo-specific, and emphasiz-
prosocial uses of video game tech- ing themes of violence and de-
nology.4 While acknowledging the struction.’ The popularity of such
need for further study, these re- themes is confirmed by a recent
ports seemed to quiet the most ex- professional analysis: Violence was
treme fears about the significance the major theme of 40 of the 47
and impact of video games. As the most popular games.1
market became saturated with Does children’s interest in
similar games, interest and sales video games really have any broad
declined. This apparently lessened significance, or is this just a benign
motivation for the further re- pastime? Similar questions have
search recommended by Harvard been raised about television, with
conference participants. some disturbing answers, particu-
By the late 1980s, the introduc- with regard to relationships
larly
tion of the Japanese Nintendo sys- between exposure to violent pro-

Address correspondence to: Jeanne B.

Funk, Ph.D., Department of Pediatrics,
Medical College of Ohio, P.O. Box 10008,
Toledo, OH 43699
tem prompted a resurgence in gramming and subsequent ag-
video game sales. Annual industry gressive and antisocial behavior.’
sales figures moved from a low of Though often adopting paradigms
$100 million in 1985 to a 1990 high which have been used to study the

86 Downloaded from cpj.sagepub.com at Bobst Library, New York University on February 11, 2015

Table 1
impact of television, video game re-
search has been much more limited.
Past research does suggest that
playing video games may affect
both physical and psychological
functioning.~ Physical effects may
range from triggering epileptic
seizures77 to causing temporary
changes in heart rate and blood
pressure.’ However, serious ad-
verse physical effects appear to be
either relatively transient or lim-
ited to a small group of players.
While video game playing has not
been implicated as a cause of se-
vere psychopathology, laboratory
research suggests that there is at
least a short-term relationship be-
tween playing violent games and
increased aggressive behavior in
6
younger children.6 No reports
were found, however, describing
systematic attempts to evaluate
children’s perceptions of game
content or to determine the sig-
nificance of game preference. On
Downloaded from cpj.sagepub.com at Bobst Library, New York University on February 11, 2015
the positive side, there are also de-
scriptions of creative and proso-
cial applications of video games in
many disciplines, including physi-
cal rehabilitation,’ oncology,l° and
education. 11
Further study of the significance
of game playing is mandated by the
general popularity of video games
and by the marked emphasis on
violence, which characterizes the
most popular games. First, infor-
mation about the Nintendo-era in-
cidence of game playing is needed.
Reports from the mid-1980s indi-
cate playing times that range from
an average of about two hours per
day 12 to about two hours per
week,13 with boys generally playing
much more than girls. If the fre-
quency of video game playing re-
mains high, then related issues,
such as gender and age differ-
ences, location of play, game pref-
erence, and sensitivity
content, should be studied.
Methods
A survey was conducted of sev-
enth- and eighth-grade students in
a large midwestern city. The sur-
vey included questions about fre-
quency of home and arcade play
and game preference. To increase
the probability that responses
would reflect actual game habits
and preferences, the only back-
ground and potentially identifying
information obtained was gender
of respondent and maternal edu-
cation.’All students who attended
school the day the survey was ad-
ministered were asked to volun-
teer. The survey was completed in
the first period under the supervi-
sion of the classroom teacher.
Surveys were distributed to 448
students, but responses from 14
students in special education
classes were not included in the
analysis. Three hundred fifty-seven
students completed the entire sur-
vey according to the directions
(82% of the study group). Seventy-
seven students did not complete
the survey appropriately, with 25
of these from one class where the
teacher apparently did not under-
stand the directions.
Game preference was assessed
by first asking students to name
their three favorite games. Two
hundred twenty-eight students
listed one to three games. Six
hundred fifty-two choices were
made, and a total of 211 separate
games were listed.
Using the list of games gener-
ated by the study subjects, the
author and a male research assis-
tant from a local college developed
a set of five categories (Table 1).
The categories were named to re-
flect their description: sports (SP),
general entertainment (GE), edu-
cational (ED), fantasy violence
(FV), and human violence (HV).
to game Using the central theme of each
game as the criterion for category
87
 / Table 2 ~~-B .~ ~f
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G TIME ~~H-,AND. EIGHTH-GRAbe-Rg;k :~L1~~’ 1~1~Et1 GAMES PER,WEEK BY I- ~~~‘I

assignment, each game was catego- the descriptions and categorized dicate whether these games were
rized by a panel of children, ages 8 list of games were presented to a accurately categorized; if they dis-
to 17, not participating in the sample of about one third of the agreed, they were asked to list an
study. Twelve children participated initial study subjects. They were alternate category. Thirty-eight
formally, but they were also permit- asked to rate only games with students who identified themselves
ted to consult with friends. Then which they were familiar and in- as currently playing one or more
hours in an average week evaluated
&dquo;

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the categorization. The average
,
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;I ’,m%;,_ %g .: rate of agreement across raters was

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94%, suggesting that the category
system accurately reflected the per-
ceptions of the group.

Results

About 80% of the sample re-

ported maternal education at a
high school or college level.
Average time spent per week
playing video games by location is
presented separately for 183 girls
and 174 boys in Table 2. Almost
two thirds of the girls spent some
time each week playing video
games at home. Using the mid-

88 Downloaded from cpj.sagepub.com at Bobst Library, New York University on February 11, 2015
point of time periods as a range
and a maximum time per week of
15 hours, the estimated group av-
erage would be about two hours for
girls. Almost 90% of the boys spent
some time playing at home; as a
group, the estimated average for
boys would be about 4.2 hours in a
typical week.
Arcade play was also popular
with this age group, though it was
primarily a male pastime. About
20% of girls spent some time play-
ing in arcades, while the frequency
for boys was about 50%.
The categories of game prefer-
ence for the total sample are listed
in Table 3. About half the &dquo;favor-
ite&dquo; choices made were violent
games (FV or HV). Educational
games comprised only 2% of pre-
ferred choices listed by this sample.
Discussion
The results of the present study
indicate that video game playing is
still a relatively high-frequency ac-
tivity, at least among young adoles-
cents. While girls continue to be
less involved in arcade play, the
majority do play home video games
on a regular basis. Almost all boys
in the present sample spent some
time playing home games in a typi-
cal week. These results suggest that
this pastime has a solid role in the
lives of young adolescents and per-
haps a corresponding influence,
which should not be dismissed
without careful study.
As a group, these adolescents do
not report extremely frequent play.
Because of the multiple assurances
of anonymity, it is likely that this is
a valid measure of the current hab-
its of the present sample. A signifi-
cant minority, however, do report
very frequent play. Group averages
for frequency of game playing may
not be the most sensitive way to
measure the impact of video
Downloaded from cpj.sagepub.com at Bobst Library, New York University on February 11, 2015
games; in the present study, 15
young adolescents reported play-
ing video games 15 or more hours
in an average week. Perhaps these
young people may be among the
members of a subgroup whose
more frequent play could reflect
high-risk psychological status.
Though past work has not found
such relationships,&dquo; using a differ-
ent approach which includes other
information, such as game prefer-
ence, may reveal important risk
factors. For example, there is con-
tinuing concern that there may be
a small group of players whose very
frequent play could represent a
true addiction.l5
The findings of the present
study also suggest that it is possible
to establish consensus on players’
perceptions of primary game
themes. These results imply that
young adolescents are aware of as-
pects of the violent content of the
games that they prefer. In addition
to the fantasy and human violence
categories, many of the games cate-
gorized as &dquo;sports&dquo; have violence as
a subtheme. These three catego-
ries comprise over three quarters
of the games preferred and pre-
sumably played most often. Mar-
keting strategies that respond to
the past popularity of games with
violent themes by promoting simi-
lar games may contribute
preference. Perhaps changing the
availability of more prosocial
games would make a difference in
how many young adolescents
spend several hours each week. Al-
ternately, game preference may re-
flect a developing societal impetus
for violence as a way to solve prob-
lems. This hypothesis would be
consistent with long-term trends in
both television programming and
films targeting younger audiences
and with steady increases in violent
crime. The potential interactive ef-
fects of exposure to multiple sources
of fantasy and real-life violence
should not be underestimated.
While there is no clear evidence at
this time that playing violent video
games causes increased aggressive
behavior in everyday life, there
may be a group of video game play-
ers in the child or adolescent age
group whose game-playing habits
reflect future behavior.
Until these questions are stud-
ied, recommendations must be
conservative. As with television, a
total ban is probably impossible to
implement and probably not even
in the child’s or adolescent’s best
interests. Limiting playing time
and monitoring game selection ac-
cording to developmental level and
game content may be as important
as similar parental management of
television privileges. Parents and
professionals should also seek cre-
ative ways to increase the accep-
tance, popularity, and availability of
games that are relatively prosocial,
educational, and fun.
Acknowledgments
The author is grateful for tech-
nical assistance from Deborah
Buchman and Steven Parker and
for departmental financial support.
to this
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