The effect of playing videogames on social, psychological and physiological variables in children and adolescents

The purpose of this manuscript will be to present scientific evidence regarding the effects of videogame playing on different aspects of the social life of children and adolescents, as well as the general potential psychological and physiological effects. A literature review from relevant databases has been performed, and experimental and meta-analytical studies have been scrutinized for positive and negative effects of videogames in children and adolescents. In general, it has been found that there is a billionaire videogame industry and yet, despite the worldwide popularity of videogames, research is still scarce and sometimes contradictory. Some research suggests a correlation between excess time video gaming on negative social and psychological aspects such as isolation and aggressive behavior; while other research suggests a positive association with motor learning, motor re-training and resilience. As far as physiological effects it has been reported that active videogames might promote higher energy expenditure than passive videogames; therefore, given an adequate parental instruction might provide videogames beneficial properties to combat the global epidemic of sedentary behavior and obesity. Videogames and everything related "to be" in front of a screen will be common to future generations, and therefore more systematic studies are required to determine the long-term exposure effects to these devices.