Browsing by Subject "aggression"

Playing various video games is one of the most popular leisure activities among children and adolescents around the world. Since childhood and adolescence are an important time for cognitive development, it is important to understand how playing video games during childhood and adolescence can have a lasting impact on brain development and on social and cognitive functions. Previous research has shown that those who play video games do better in various tasks that concern attention and cognitive control as well as spatial reasoning and problem solving than those who do not play video games. The research area regarding the child's socioemotional development is very debated and the evidence between game content and violent behaviour is contradictory. The purpose of this overview is to highlight what is known about the impact of video games on the cognitive functions and social abilities of children and adolescents as well as possible connections to the brain. The database PubMed and Scopus were used to collect relevant articles for this overview. The studies found that playing video games improves the cognitive abilities of children and adolescents. Some studies have also found that the earlier children start playing actively, the more their cognitive abilities benefit. Regarding the connection between violent video games and aggressive behaviour, studies shows that frustration and competition in the game can lead to aggressive thoughts and feelings, but that the social context in which you play in influences the behaviour more than the game content itself. Studies on the effects of video games on children's and adolescents’ abilities and development are to some extent very contradictory. Thus, more research is needed on how video games can affect children's development to better understand the exact impact of games on the brain.