The largest-ever study on the health impacts of gaming was concluded a while ago, offering a clear message: Extended periods of gaming do not inherently harm gamers health. Conducted by researchers from the Internet Institute at Oxford University (OII) in England, the study involved a staggering 38,935 gamers and explored how gaming influences mood and mental well-being.
Contrary to popular belief, the researchers found that it takes more than 10 hours of gaming for any noticeable effect positive or negative on a player’s mood. However, the study, published by The Royal Society, one of the world’s oldest scientific organizations, also highlights that the personal reasons behind why people game can significantly impact their mental state. With all the attention we think gamers mental health is something to take seriously.
The crucial role of motivation
The study’s findings reveal that the quantity of time spent gaming is less important than the quality of the gaming experience. “It wasn’t about the amount of gaming, but about the quality. If players felt they were compelled to play, their mood worsened. But if they played because they loved it, their health wasn’t negatively affected. In fact, it seemed to give them a strong positive feeling,” summarized Professor Andrew Przybylski, a psychology expert specializing in virtual worlds, on Oxford University’s website.
Back in 2020, the same research group studied 3,274 participants and concluded that extensive gaming could be beneficial for mood. Now, with a sample size nearly ten times larger, the researchers have delved deeper into this connection. Participants were asked about their mental health before, during, and after playing seven selected video games, including Apex Legends, Gran Turismo Sport, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which feature vastly different content and challenges. One of the games in the study, EVE Online, tested the abilities of the 38,935 participants, providing valuable data on how gaming affects their emotional state. According to Przybylski, the gamers reported no significant changes in their health after consistently rating their levels of joy, sadness, and anger, as well as answering questions about their overall life satisfaction.
Challenging long-held concerns
The study’s conclusions directly challenge long-standing concerns about the potential harmful effects of video gaming. For years, there has been anxiety about whether extended gaming could negatively impact mental and physical health, particularly in young people.
For instance, the Chinese government has taken a firm stance on this issue, implementing strict time restrictions on gaming to protect children’s mental and physical health. Since 2019, these restrictions have limited Chinese children under 18 to just one hour of gaming per day, and only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM.
These regulations are enforced by state-approved gaming platforms in China, with significant penalties for non-compliance in a country that has a long and complex relationship with video games. The Chinese gaming industry alone generates an annual revenue of around 500 approximately $72 billion USD.
To ensure compliance, the Chinese media giant Tencent, which has over a billion users, developed facial recognition software that checks whether children are using their parents’ accounts to bypass the gaming limits.
Rethinking the approach to gaming
The Oxford study suggests that instead of focusing on time restrictions, policymakers and other stakeholders should pay closer attention to individual gamers' motivations. Limiting game time alone, the researchers argue, has little to no impact on mental health outcomes.
Professor Przybylski hopes that in the future, gamers will be able to donate data from various gaming platforms to help everyone from the players themselves to their parents and policymakers gain a better understanding of how gaming continuously influences us.
This research underscores the importance of context and motivation in understanding the effects of gaming. As the gaming community and industry continue to grow, these insights could guide more nuanced approaches to managing the impact of video games on mental health. Rather than simply imposing blanket restrictions, a deeper understanding of why people game and how it affects them could lead to more effective strategies for promoting well-being in the digital age.
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