Impact of Action Video Gaming Behavior on Attention, Anxiety, and Sleep Among University Students
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been an increase in the prevalence of action video gaming among adolescents and young adults. This has made video gaming a topic of interest for behavioral and higher brain cognitive function researchers. The present study investigated the impact and consequences of action video gaming on human behavior-specifically, attention, anxiety levels, and sleep patterns. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate the potential associations between action video gaming and attention, anxiety, and sleep. METHODS: Recruited participants (N = 97) were asked to independently complete an online questionnaire consisting of 4 sections: demographic data, gaming behavior, 8-item Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorders Scale. Participants were further divided into 2 groups (expert and non-expert video gamers) based on the number of hours they spent on action video games. After completing the questionnaires, the patients attended an on-site session, where they completed a validated psychological online battery test that assessed their sustained attention. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 21 years. There was a significant difference in attention between expert and non-expert video gamers; when exposed to stimuli, expert gamers displayed significantly shorter reaction times than the non-expert gamers (p < 0.05). Both groups showed a non-significant decrease in attention span throughout time. The data demonstrated no statistically significant difference in anxiety levels or daytime sleepiness between expert and non-expert video gamers, and minimal to mild anxiety levels were reported in most expert and non-expert gamers. CONCLUSION: Expert video gamers were significantly more attentive compared to non-expert gamers, and most participants showed low levels of generalized anxiety. Accordingly, expanding our knowledge on the effects of action video games on attention span is important for creatively using games in the field of education, especially for those who suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Adolescents who engage in video gaming for a moderate, consistent amount of time have been shown to exhibit greater processing speed and sustained attention compared to their non-gaming peers.
“For example, adolescents who engage in video gaming for a moderate, consistent amount of time have been shown to exhibit greater processing speed and sustained attention compared to their non-gaming peers [29–31].”
From Health Benefits of Video Games in Adolescents and Young Adults (2026) · cites this paper as [31]
The Results (Gaming and Attention; page unavailable) report faster reaction times for expert than non-expert gamers, supporting the processing-speed portion. But the Methods (Participants; page unavailable) describe adults aged 18–26 who all played games, not adolescents gaming a moderate amount compared with non-gamers. The Discussion (page unavailable) explicitly finds no advantage in sustained attention for expert gamers. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The GAD-7
Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2006) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092 · Cited by 31,765 · see citing works
A New Method for Measuring Daytime Sleepiness: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale
Johns, M. W. (1991) · Sleep · doi:10.1093/sleep/14.6.540 · Cited by 17,364 · see citing works
Andreassen, C. S., Billieux, J., Griffiths, M. D., Kuss, D. J., Demetrovics, Z., Mazzoni, E., & Pallesen, S. (2016) · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1037/adb0000160 · Cited by 2,095 · cited 1× · see citing works
“These results are consistent with those of a previous review that observed the relationship between addictive use of social media and video games and psychiatric disorders; the results suggested that playing video games had no impact on anxiety (even for addicted video gamers) in terms of improvement or worsening, and…”
ResultChang, A.-M., Aeschbach, D., Duffy, J. F., & Czeisler, C. A. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1418490112 · Cited by 1,430 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Furthermore, many factors are linked to disturbances in sleeping patterns—specifically, the previous day’s activities and increased arousal states.(36) This highlights the importance of separating the effect of video gaming on sleep from those of concurrent factors in daily life.”
BackgroundThe Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) and PEBL Test Battery
Mueller, S. T., & Piper, B. J. (2013) · Journal of Neuroscience Methods · doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2013.10.024 · Cited by 1,088 · see citing works
The Impact of Video Games on Training Surgeons in the 21st Century
Rosser, J. C. (2007) · Archives of Surgery · doi:10.1001/archsurg.142.2.181 · Cited by 687 · see citing works
Action Video Games Make Dyslexic Children Read Better
Franceschini, S., Gori, S., Ruffino, M., Viola, S., Molteni, M., & Facoetti, A. (2013) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.044 · Cited by 526 · see citing works
Increasing Speed of Processing With Action Video Games
Dye, M. W. G., Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2009) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01660.x · Cited by 521 · see citing works
Wong, H. Y., Mo, H. Y., Potenza, M. N., Chan, M. N. M., Lau, W. M., Chui, T. K., Pakpour, A. H., & Lin, C. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17061879 · Cited by 512 · see citing works
González-Bueso, V., Santamaría, J., Fernández, D., Merino, L., Montero, E., & Ribas, J. (2018) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph15040668 · Cited by 487 · see citing works
Internet Gaming Addiction, Problematic Use of the Internet, and Sleep Problems: A Systematic Review
Lam, L. T.-M. (2014) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-014-0444-1 · Cited by 407 · see citing works
Higuchi, S., Motohashi, Y., Liu, Y., & MAEDA, A. (2005) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2869.2005.00463.x · Cited by 358 · see citing works
Enhancing Attentional Control: Lessons from Action Video Games
Bavelier, D., & Green, C. S. (2019) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.09.031 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
Internet gaming disorder: Trends in prevalence 1998–2016
Feng, W., Ramo, D. E., Chan, S. R., & Bourgeois, J. A. (2017) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.06.010 · Cited by 256 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Studies have shown a significant increase in the prevalence of gaming among children and adolescents in recent years.(1) This has led to many emerging studies on the effects of video gaming, especially for educators, social workers, and researchers.”
BackgroundLoton, D. J., Borkoles, E., Lubman, D. I., & Polman, R. C. J. (2015) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-015-9578-6 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Reduced attentional capture in action video game players
Chisholm, J. D., Hickey, C., Theeuwes, J., & Kingstone, A. F. (2010) · Attention Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/app.72.3.667 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Social anxiety and Internet gaming disorder: The role of motives and metacognitions
Marino, C., Canale, N., Vieno, A., Caselli, G., Scacchi, L., & Spada, M. M. (2020) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/2006.2020.00044 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Emotional Regulation in Young Adults with Internet Gaming Disorder
Yen, J., Yeh, Y., Wang, P., Liu, T., Chen, Y., & Ko, C. (2017) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph15010030 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Peracchia, S., & Curcio, G. (2018) · Sleep Science · doi:10.5935/1984-0063.20180046 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Association between Internet gaming disorder and generalized anxiety disorder
Wang, C.-Y., Wu, Y.-C., Su, C., Lin, P., Ko, C., & Yen, J. (2017) · Journal of Behavioral Addictions · doi:10.1556/2006.6.2017.088 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Scholten, H., Malmberg, M., Lobel, A., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Granic, I. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147763 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Adams, B. L. M., Stavropoulos, V., Burleigh, T. L., Liew, L. W. L., Beard, C. L., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-018-9873-0 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
An, J., Sun, Y., Wan, Y., Chen, J., Wang, X., & Tao, F. (2014) · Journal of Addiction Medicine · doi:10.1097/adm.0000000000000026 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Terrill, A. L., Hartoonian, N., Beier, M. L., Salem, R., & Alschuler, K. N. (2014) · International Journal of MS Care · doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2014-008 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Farchakh, Y., Haddad, C., Sacre, H., Obeïd, S., Salameh, P., & Hallit, S. R. (2020) · Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health · doi:10.1186/s13034-020-00353-3 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Rapid Improvement in Visual Selective Attention Related to Action Video Gaming Experience
Qiu, N., Ma, W., Fan, X., Zhang, Y., Li, Y., Yan, Y., Zhou, Z., Li, F., Gong, D., & Yao, D. (2018) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00047 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Psychology of Computer Use: XII. Videogame Play: Human Reaction Time to Visual Stimuli
Orosy-Fildes, C., & Allan, R. W. (1989) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.2466/pms.1989.69.1.243 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Ohannessian, C. M. (2018) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.009 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Screen and nonscreen sedentary behavior and sleep in adolescents
Brunetti, V. C., O'Loughlin, E. K., O'Loughlin, J., Constantin, E., & Pigeon, É. (2016) · Sleep Health · doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2016.09.004 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Is action video gaming related to sustained attention of adolescents?
Trisolini, D. C., Petilli, M. A., & Daini, R. (2017) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1080/17470218.2017.1310912 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
How to Assess Gaming-Induced Benefits on Attention and Working Memory
Mishra, J., Bavelier, D., & Gazzaley, A. H. (2012) · Games for Health Journal · doi:10.1089/g4h.2011.0033 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Arrona‐Palacios, A. (2017) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.10.009 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Wols, A., Lichtwarck‐Aschoff, A., Schoneveld, E. A., & Granic, I. (2018) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-018-9684-4 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
A comparative analysis of the processing speed between video game players and non-players
Pardina-Torner, H., Carbonell, X., & Castejón, M. (2019) · Aloma: revista de psicologia, ciències de l'educació i de l'esport Blanquerna · doi:10.51698/aloma.2019.37.1.13-20 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Fazeli, S., Zeidi, I. M., Lin, C., et al. (2020) · Addictive Behaviors Reports · doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100322 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [17]Packard A, Bautista R, Smotherman C, Gautham S. Gender differences in Epworth Sleepiness Scale revealed by paired patient–spouse scoring. Epilepsy Behav. 2021; 114: (Pt A):107272. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.207272 32651121 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Health Benefits of Video Games in Adolescents and Young Adults
Nagata, J. M., Nayak, S., Choi, W., Potes, C., Heuer, A., Memon, Z., Talebloo, J., Li, E. J., Bao, K., Helmer, C. K., et al. (2026) · Current Pediatrics Reports · doi:10.1007/s40124-026-00376-y · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“For example, adolescents who engage in video gaming for a moderate, consistent amount of time have been shown to exhibit greater processing speed and sustained attention compared to their non-gaming peers [29–31].”
- Authors
- Alsaad, F., Binkhamis, L., Alsalman, A., Alabdulqader, N., Alamer, M., Abualait, T., Khalil, M. S., & Al Ghamdi, K. S.
- Affiliations
- Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (SA)
- Corresponding author
- Alabdulqader, Njood
- Venue
- Psychology Research and Behavior Management
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-01
- Volume
- Volume 15
- Pages
- 151-160
- ISSN
- 1179-1578 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8765604
- OpenAlex
- W4205953723
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 10.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychology Research and Behavior Management (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Keywords
- action video games, gaming behavior, sustained attention, generalized anxiety disorder, daytime sleepiness, sleep patterns, university students, reaction time, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
