Christopher J. Ferguson
Do Angry Birds Make for Angry Children? A Meta-Analysis of Video Game Influences on Children’s and Adolescents’ Aggression, Mental Health, Prosocial Behavior, and Academic Performance
issue whether video gamesviolent nonviolentharm children adolescents continues hotly contested scientific community among politicians general public date researchers focused college student samples studies video games often poorly standardized outcome measures answer questions harm minors studies arguably illuminating current analysis sought address gap focusing studies video game influences child adolescent samples effects overall video game use exposure violent video games specifically considered although analysis pathological game use overall results 101 studies suggest video game influences increased aggression r 06 reduced prosocial behavior r 04 reduced academic performance r 01 depressive symptoms r 04 attention deficit symptoms r 03 minimal issues related researchers degrees freedom citation bias also continue common problems field publication bias remains problem studies aggression recommendations given research may improved psychological community address video games public health perspective