Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18

TLDR

Prior research on youth video‑game addiction relied on regional convenience samples. The study aimed to estimate the national prevalence of clinically defined pathological gaming among youth. The authors conducted a Harris poll of 1,178 randomly selected American youth aged 8–18 to assess gaming habits and parental involvement. About 8% of youth met criteria for pathological gaming, which was linked to twice the playtime, poorer grades, attention problems, and predicted lower academic performance independent of demographics and play volume, confirming the construct’s reliability and validity.

Abstract

Researchers have studied whether some youth are "addicted" to video games, but previous studies have been based on regional convenience samples. Using a national sample, this study gathered information about video-gaming habits and parental involvement in gaming, to determine the percentage of youth who meet clinical-style criteria for pathological gaming. A Harris poll surveyed a randomly selected sample of 1,178 American youth ages 8 to 18. About 8% of video-game players in this sample exhibited pathological patterns of play. Several indicators documented convergent and divergent validity of the results: Pathological gamers spent twice as much time playing as nonpathological gamers and received poorer grades in school; pathological gaming also showed comorbidity with attention problems. Pathological status significantly predicted poorer school performance even after controlling for sex, age, and weekly amount of video-game play. These results confirm that pathological gaming can be measured reliably, that the construct demonstrates validity, and that it is not simply isomorphic with a high amount of play.