Hyperactivity And Videogames Linked

Thanks to BBC News for their article discussing claims that hyperactive children spend much longer playing computer games than healthy children. According to the UK-based research, "Children with ADHD were more likely to play games based on fighting", and "..spent 11.3 hours a week playing computer games, double the time spent by the other [non-hyperactive] group." The researcher, Dr. Justin Williams, said that the hyperactive children "...were the least socially able and the most technically able, which leads them to prefer computer games to social interaction", but didn't condemn games completely, adding: "It's important for parents to be fully engaged in what their children are getting from their media diet... there are lots of good computer games to play."

Comments

Correlation vs. Causation?

[Nasarius]

The study doesn't seem to suggest anything about videogames causing ADHD, so I don't see what the big deal is. There's not a lot to conclude based on this study except "hyperactive kids like videogames".

Re:Correlation vs. Causation?

[lightspawn]

The thing is, studies which don't address correlation/causation are idiotic - they don't provide any useful information, and are just likely to be misinterpreted.

Re:Correlation vs. Causation?

[seinman]

There's not a lot to conclude based on this study except "hyperactive kids like videogames".

And that's somehow not important? Knowing trends of a group of people with a certain affliction can greatly help in diagnoising it. Especially something like ADHD, which is a title thrown on every kid who ever gets bored. The more things like this that we can use to discover the true problems with people, the better.

Re:Correlation vs. Causation?

[Anonvmous Coward]

"The study doesn't seem to suggest anything about videogames causing ADHD, so I don't see what the big deal is."

The big deal comes from all the Kyle's Moms out there who try to twist this information into a crusade to put games down for good. I wouldn't mind if they were saying "watch your kids", but they tend to go a lot farther than that.

I'm overly sensitive to this topic because I've watched a number of people stand against video games, and none of them have proven to me that they know what they're talking about. This particular case may not warrant that reaction, but I cannot help but think this'll be used anyway. Video games have had a very positive effect on my life, in many ways I owe my career to them. Maybe I'm unusual, but I paid careful attention to how games communicate ideas to the audience in a fun way. My studies of these practices landed me some rather important skills in the UI development and testing world.

To make a long story short, these types of articles have ramifications down the road. Parents are afraid of external influences they're not familiar with. Stuff like this can and will be taken negatively. "Uh oh, he's hyperactive, better sue Nintendo."

Well, duh!!!

[El]

The only conclusion that you can reach from this study is that kids spend more time doing what they are naturally good at then what they are bad at... seems like it wouldn't take a sociologist to tell you that!