Says the study: One in five European teenagers suffers from excessive video games

In Europe, one in five children is at high risk of problematic games (about 20%); Exposing the phenomenon of boys (30.8%) is three times higher than that of girls (9.4%)

Research authors from the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the National Council of Padua (Unipd) and Australian Flinders University investigated how the factors of individual, social and contextal issues are associated with a greater risk for European teenagers of problematic games (using video games).

Thus, overuse of video games can endanger health and encourage school departure.

The study examined the data of 89,000 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 16, who reside in 30 European countries.

“U also found that teenagers living in Denmark report the lowest levels of problematic games (12%), while those in Romania report a greater perception of problems related to the use of video games (30.2%)”, explains Sabrina Molinaro, researcher and research co-ordinator.

Family background and national policies may reduce the likelihood that teenagers will experience the problematic use of video games.

“The study shows how the presence of parental rules and the emotional support of the family protect the teen from excessive and distorted use of video games”, the study author Alessio Vieno noted.