Is time spent playing video games associated with mental health, cognitive and social skills in young children?
Open accessAbstract
Background Video games are one of the favourite leisure activities of children; the influence on child health is usually perceived to be negative. The present study assessed the association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children mental health as well as cognitive and social skills. Methods Data were drawn from the School Children Mental Health Europe project conducted in six European Union countries (youth ages 6-11, n = 3195). Child mental health was assessed by parents and teachers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and by children themselves with the Dominic Interactive. Child video game usage was reported by the parents. Teachers evaluated academic functioning. Multivariable logistic regressions were used. Results 20 % of the children played video games more than 5 h per week. Factors associated with time spent playing video games included being a boy, being older, and belonging to a medium size family. Having a less educated, single, inactive, or psychologically distressed mother decreased time spent playing video games. Children living in Western European countries were significantly less likely to have high video game usage (9.66 vs 20.49 %) though this was not homogenous. Once adjusted for child age and gender, number of children, mothers age, marital status, education, employment status, psychological distress, and region, high usage was associated with 1.75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning (95 % CI 1.31-2.33), and 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence (95 % CI 1.44-2.47). Once controlled for high usage predictors, there were no significant associations with any child self-reported or mother- or teacher-reported mental health problems. High usage was associated with decreases in peer relationship problems [OR 0.41 (0.2-0.86) and in prosocial deficits (0.23 (0.07, 0.81)]. Conclusions Playing video games may have positive effects on young children. Understanding the mechanisms through which video game use may stimulate children should be further investigated.
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Kovess-Masfety et al found that high video game use was associated with 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence.
“Jar uratanasirikul et al 4 1 and Muñoz-Miralles et al 53 reported an inverse association, whereas Kovess-Masfety et al 47 found that high use was associated with 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence.”
From Association Between Screen Media Use and Academic Performance Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [47]
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The impact of time devoted to video games on student achievement
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“, 2013) others show that video games have a favourable impact on students’ academic accomplishments (Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016; Posso, 2016).”
BackgroundResultThe Psychosocial Well-Being of Young Video-Gamer Children: A Comparison Study
Tezol, Ö., Yıldız, D., & Yalçın, S. S. (2022) · Turkish Archives of Pediatrics · doi:10.5152/turkarchpediatr.2022.21359 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“77 Total difficulties 9 (0-25) 8 (2-26) .”
BackgroundChung, T. W. H., Sum, S., & Chan, M. (2018) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/2006.7.2018.86 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Examining homicides and suicides c ross‐nationally : Economic factors, guns and video games
Ferguson, C. J., & Smith, S. (2021) · International Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1002/ijop.12760 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Some have even found evidence that video games can have positive effects on children’s mental health and social skills (Jones et al., 2014; Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016).”
BackgroundProblematic mobile gamers have attention bias toward game social information
Guo, Y., Elhai, J. D., Montag, C., Wang, Y., & Yang, H. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.108074 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
The genetics of gaming: A longitudinal twin study
Nilsson, A., Kuja-Halkola, R., Lichtenstein, P., Larsson, H., Lundström, S., Fatouros-Bergman, H., Jayaram-Lindström, N., & Molero, Y. (2023) · JCPP Advances · doi:10.1002/jcv2.12179 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Other studies have pointed to possible benefits of gaming, including enhanced problem solving, and social skills (Kovess ‐ Masfety et al., 2016; Reynaldo et al., 2021).”
BackgroundInterpretation of Map Symbols in the Context of Gamers’ Age and Experience
Horbiński, T., & Zagata, K. (2022) · ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information · doi:10.3390/ijgi11020150 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Psychometric Assessment of the Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire Among Iranian Gamers
Hamzehzadeh, M., Sangchooli, A., Farnam, R., Rafiemanesh, H., Shadloo, B., Ghani, K., Jobehdar, M. M., Amin‐Esmaeili, M., Rahimi, J., Demetrovics, Z., et al. (2022) · Psychiatry Investigation · doi:10.30773/pi.2021.0185 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Associations between digital gaming behavior and physical activity among Finnish vocational students
Salmensalo, M., Ruotsalainen, H., Hylkilä, K., Kääriäinen, M., Konttila, J., Männistö, M., & Männikkö, N. (2022) · Journal of public health · doi:10.1007/s10389-022-01788-y · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“For this reason, gaming activity can easily intensify into a marathon session, with non-stop gaming periods lasting over 10 hours no longer a rare occurrence (Kovess-Masfety et al. 2016).”
Liu, L., Tian, Y., Fan, H., Wang, J., Chen, C., Liu, Z., Geng, F., Mo, D., Luo, X., Wen, X., et al. (2024) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-024-06357-z · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Screen Time and Standardized Academic Achievement Tests in Elementary School
Li, X., Keown‐Stoneman, C. D. G., Omand, J. A., Cost, K. T., Gallagher‐Mackay, K., Hove, J., Janus, M., Korczak, D. J., Pullenayegum, E., Tsujimoto, K. C., et al. (2025) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.37092 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
PvP: Profiling Versus Player! Exploiting Gaming Data for Player Recognition
Conti, M., & Tricomi, P. P. (2020) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_22 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Pakistani students’ perceptions about their learning experience through video games
Khalid, T., Batool, S. H., Khalid, A., Saeed, H., & Zaidi, S. W. H. (2019) · Library Hi Tech · doi:10.1108/lht-03-2019-0068 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Power of play: How playing affects cooperation skills
Sohrabi, T. (2021) · Brock Education Journal · doi:10.26522/brocked.v31i1.889 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Kovess-Masfety et al. (2016) also assessed the association between time spent playing video games and social skills; their study revealed that increased video game usage is associated with decreases in peer relationship problems, which can affect social skills development, including cooperation skills.”
BackgroundMédiations numériques : jeux vidéo et jeux de transfert
Leroux, Y. (2019) · Érès eBooks · doi:10.3917/eres.haza.2019.01.0031 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Game-Based Social-Emotional Learning for Youth: School-Based Qualitative Analysis of Brain Agents
Liverman, E., Antognoli, D., Elaiho, C. R., McGuire, M., Stoltenburg, A., Navarette, A., Bates, G., Chelius, T. H., Gundacker, C., Lumelsky, P., et al. (2025) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/67550 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Video games, often viewed skeptically regarding their impact on child health, are favored leisure activities among children [21].”
Devasia, N., Kenderova, G., Newman, M., Kientz, J. A., & Lee, J. H. (2025) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3748633 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“…health have only been recently explored in the literature [13, 142], games have proven to have positive effects on emotional regulation [119], identity formation [8], mood [69], affective well-being [80], varying levels of reflection [101], and self-acceptance [81], especially for children [85].”
Wang, H., Bragg, F., Guan, Y., Zhong, J., Li, N., Pan, J., & Yu, M. (2023) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1138152 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“The School Children Mental Health Europe project, including 3,195 children aged 6–11 years from six European Union countries, found no significant association between video game playing and depression (17).”
BackgroundPress Play for Learning: A Framework to Guide Serious Computer Game Use in the Classroom
Southgate, E., Budd, J., & Smith, S. P. (2017) · doi:10.14221/ajte.2017v42n7.1 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“While there is much debate regarding the beneficial and adverse effects of recreational gaming (e.g. Boyle, Connolly, & Hainey, 2011; Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016; Posso, 2016; Pujol et al., 2016), this paper concentrates on games for learning, with a specific focus on what K-12 teachers need to…”
Video game playing frequency, social cognition, and social behavior in childhood.
Lavertu, G., Seni, A. G., Vera-Estay, E., Tran, M., West, G. L., & Beauchamp, M. H. (2022) · Technology Mind and Behavior · doi:10.1037/tmb0000075 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Development of Social Skills with Traditional Games: An Experimentation with the Game Mallogo
Tasnim, A., Damayanti, E., & Afiif, A. (2022) · Golden Age Jurnal Ilmiah Tumbuh Kembang Anak Usia Dini · doi:10.14421/jga.2022.71-03 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The visual and narrative rhetoric of mental health in Gris
Baker, M. M. (2022) · Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds · doi:10.1386/jgvw_00061_1 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Video Game Time and Psychosocial Well-being in Chinese Children: the Mediating Role of Self-Esteem
Sun, X., & Li, X. (2024) · Journal of Child and Family Studies · doi:10.1007/s10826-024-02834-x · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“A similar classi fi cation method has been used in previous studies (Przybylski, 2014; Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016).”
Rihtarić, M. L., Vrselja, I., & Löw, A. (2022) · Cyberpsychology Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace · doi:10.5817/cp2022-3-7 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Although some studies show that playing video games can be beneficial for children (e.g., Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016), the research literature attests to growing concern that video game playing exerts negative effects on different aspects of children’s psychological states and on their behavior.”
BackgroundClouet, R., Gaudin, A., Tourtelier, J., Gogendeau, C., Serisier, S., & Prud’homme, T. (2024) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/55738 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“These values were used in a 2016 study to link the time spent playing video games to children’s mental health and cognitive and social skills [22].”
Digital game addiction, anger and aggression among university students
Altın, M. (2025) · Physical Education of Students · doi:10.15561/20755279.2025.0104 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“The literature includes numerous studies indicating that digital game addiction contributes to negative emotions and behaviors [59, 60, 61, 62, 63].”
Gaming habits and symptoms of video game addiction in Spanish adolescents
Mora-Salgueiro, J., Feijóo, S., Tobío, T. B., Varela, J., & Boubeta, A. R. (2022) · Behavioral Psychology/Psicología Conductual · doi:10.51668/bp.8322302n · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Blasco-Fontecilla, H., Menéndez-García, Á., Sánchez‐Sánchez, F., & Bella-Fernández, M. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1136671 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning, and a decreased risk of peer relationship problems (48).”
BackgroundUnderstanding Positive Impact of Game Interactivity in Education
Watson, Z., & Zaidi, S. F. M. (2019) · International Conference on Video, Signal and Image Processing (VSIP) · doi:10.1145/3369318.3369338 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“It has also been directly proven that younger children who play video games regularly receive increased benefits from this activity[6] something that ties into this concept of ’Actional Immersion’ Further.”
BackgroundLu, W., & Li, X. (2025) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2025.101861 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The Impact of Video Games on the Emotional State of Gamers: Review of Modern Research
Михайловна, Л. Н. (2025) · Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology · doi:10.17759/jmfp.2024130411 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A Comparative Study: The Demographic Differences of Game Literacy
Wahyuni, L. D., Ariyani, M., & Hutomo, B. A. (2021) · Research and Development Journal of Education · doi:10.30998/rdje.v7i2.9267 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“From the results of research conducted by Masfety et al, it can be seen that children with a high duration of playing the game will experience a decrease related to problems in relationships with peers and deficits in prosocial (Kovess-Masfety et al., 2016).”
ResultRebecchi, K., Lubart, T., Shankland, R., & Hagège, H. (2024) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjep.12694 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Learning through video games: A case study of private schools of Pakistan
Khalid, T., & Batool, S. H. (2018) · International Conference on Information Management and Processing (ICIMP) · doi:10.1109/icimp1.2018.8325855 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Today, educators are using a vast variety of innovative and creative academic approaches (game based activities) for making the learning process of children more effective, interesting, meaningful and engaging [14].”
BackgroundOnline Social Games in the Eyes of Children and Teens: A Systematic Review
Li, S., Li, E., & Yuan, X. (2022) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-05637-6_15 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Video Games and Tourism – Tourism Motivations of Chinese Video Game Players
Xu, Y. (2021) · doi:10.26686/wgtn.16571606.v1 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A Game to Promote Literacy and Psychosocial Well-being among Syrian Refugee ChildrenPreprint
Iakimova, G., Koval-Saifi, N., Wittmann, M., & Guardiola, E. (2022) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/7u946 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Murray, A., Scott, D. M. S., Nikolajeva, M., Porricelli, D., van Loggerenberg, F., Ougrin, D., & Lau, J. Y. F. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1408771 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Zhao, Z., Liu, H., Feng, Y., Chang, F., & Tang, B. (2025) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100755 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Consumo habitual de videojuegos y nivel de atención en escolares de primaria
López, P. J. C., & Perujo, M. G. (2022) · EDMETIC · doi:10.21071/edmetic.v11i2.13693 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…los jugadores problemas a nivel de funcionamiento cognitivo, en la atención y la concentración y, por consiguiente (RestrepoEscobar et al., 2019), pueden comenzar a manifestar dificultades académicas que perjudican a los resultados académicos (Kovess et al., 2016; Jiménez-Rodríguez et al., 2022).”
BackgroundRelationship Between Computer Gambling and Academic Performance of High School Students
Javorčík, T., & Durian, C. (2022) · European Conference on e-Learning · doi:10.34190/ecel.21.1.711 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
López, P. J. C., & Perujo, M. G. (2022) · Innoeduca International Journal of Technology and Educational Innovation · doi:10.24310/innoeduca.2022.v8i2.13758 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Dijital Oyun Bağımlılığı Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi
Kızılkaya, M. F., & Fatma Zuhal, E. R. O. L. (2024) · Batı anadolu eğitim bilimleri dergisi · doi:10.51460/baebd.1454087 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Aydın, S., Sak, R., & Şahin-Sak, İ. T. (2025) · Children · doi:10.3390/children12070932 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Video games’ reported adverse effects include heightened aggression, among other psychological, social, and physical difficulties, but they have also been hailed as enhancing attention [32], hand–eye coordination, self-esteem, intellectual functioning, and academic achievement [33–35].”
The Older Gamer in Games Studies: Marginalised or Idealised?
Wu, H., & Guo, C. (2020) · Cultural Science Journal · doi:10.5334/csci.141 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Stampfer, B., Weiss, E. M., & Canazei, M. (2023) · Lernen und Lernstörungen · doi:10.1024/2235-0977/a000403 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
A New Approach to Predict Game Addiction : Focusing on the in-game behavior
Lee, S., & Kim, E. (2019) · Korean Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies · doi:10.20879/kjjcs.2019.63.1.005 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Elucidating the Role of Behavior in Social Media Use and Depression
Shidid, S., & Viswanathan, R. (2020) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.09.017 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Kuo, H. J., Yeomans, M., Ruiz, D., & Lin, C.-C. (2024) · Entertainment Computing · doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2024.100780 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Digital play addiction and interactive peer play behaviors in preschool children
Kara, D., & Derman, M. T. (2025) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-025-13518-4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lukka, L., Karhulahti, V., & Palva, J. M. (2026) · JMIR Serious Games · doi:10.2196/69236 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…mirror lay perspectives regarding video games [33,35] that they are associated with aggressive [36,37] and addictive behavior [38,39], while also being popular entertainment [40,41] and linked to positive effects on affective well-being [42], cognitive skills [43,44], and even intelligence [45,46].”
de la Rosa, P. A., Wilkinson, R., Cowden, R. G., Chen, Y., Case, B. W., Suzuki, E., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2026) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-026-09093-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Al‐Shammary, A. A., Aldawsari, N. F., Alharfi, R. A., Almujil, A. A. I., Alanazi, Y. A., Ahmad, M. S., & Orfali, H. A. (2026) · Public Health Challenges · doi:10.1002/puh2.70300 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Other studies suggest that short-term interactive video games combined with traditional rehabilitation can improve physical health in children with developmental delays [ 23 ], and high video game use is linked to fewer peer relationship problems and prosocial deficits [ 24 ].”
DEHB OLAN ÇOCUKLARIN PLANLAMA BECERİSİ VE AHLAKİ OLGUNLUKLARINA POPÜLER OYUNLARIN ETKİSİ
ÇAKICI, A. (2021) · Cumhuriyet International Journal of Education · doi:10.30703/cije.766834 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Does Playing Video Games Give a Child an Advantage in Digital Game-Based Learning?
Dondio, P. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-49065-1_22 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ren, Y., Liu, Y., & Chen, G. (2024) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107488 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Gupta, A., Trivedi, S., Singh, K., Bagwe, S., & Maini, L. (2022) · MAMC Journal of Medical Sciences · doi:10.4103/mamcjms.mamcjms_128_21 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
A TEORIA DA MENTE NA ERA DAS MÍDIAS DIGITAIS E O QUE MUDOU COM A PANDEMIA DA COVID-19
Knochenhauer, A. E., Watanabe, R. G. S., & Lin, K. (2022) · Arquivos Catarinenses de Medicina · doi:10.63845/xezdsa68 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kovess-Masfety, V., Keyes, K., Hamilton, A., Hanson, G., Bitfoi, A., Golitz, D., Koç, C., Kuijpers, R., Lesinskiene, S., Mihova, Z., Otten, R., Fermanian, C., & Pez, O.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- New Bulgarian University (BG)
- Université Paris Descartes (FR)
- Venue
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
- Published
- 2016-02-05
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 349-357
- ISSN
- 0933-7954 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-9285
- PMC
- PMC4814321
- OpenAlex
- W2271123592
- Cited by
- 140
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 42.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- DG SANCO EU (2006336)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- video game use, children, child mental health, cognitive skills, academic performance, social skills, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior, maternal distress, family size, parental education
- MeSH terms
- Child, Cognition, Europe, Female, Humans, Leisure Activities, Male, Mental Health, Surveys and Questionnaires, Time Factors, Video Games, Social Skills
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