Rates of teenage video gaming—and video game addiction—are steadily increasing. About three-quarters of children and teens play video games. According to a Common Sense Media study, teens spend an average of almost two hours gaming daily. Boys make up the large majority of gamers, with an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes of video gaming per day.
As a result, more teens are experiencing video game addiction, which is officially known as internet gaming disorder. And boys are almost twice as likely to experience a gaming addiction. When parents complain, “My son is addicted to video games,” they may be dealing with an actual mental health disorder.
Key Takeaways
- Like other process addictions, teen video game addiction triggers the brain’s reward system.
- For teens who are struggling with their mental health, gaming often serves as a distraction from distressing emotions.
- Whether gaming for teenagers is harmful seems to depend on how often they’re playing video games and why they are playing.
- Teen treatment may be necessary to help adolescents overcome video game addiction.
What Is Teenage Video Game Addiction?
Teenage video game addiction works the same way as other so-called process addictions or behavioral addictions. Gaming addiction is one of the common behavioral addictions, also known as process addictions. This type of addiction also includes behaviors such as shopping, using social media, or exercising. In a nutshell, for people with process addictions, the behavior has the same effect on the brain as alcohol or drugs.
Gaming addiction and other process addictions activate the brain’s reward center. This triggers the release of the “feel-good” chemical dopamine. And in turn, this creates a craving for the behavior and a compulsion to continue it. Therefore, kids addicted to video games feel an uncontrollable urge to continue playing.
The 3 Gaming Disorder Criteria
In 2018, the World Health Organization recognized the severity of teenage video game addiction by classifying gaming disorder as a diagnosable mental health condition. Consequently, this disorder is included in the 11th edition of WHO’s International Classification of Diseases Manual. The WHO lists three main criteria for the diagnosis of gaming disorder:
- An inability to control the urge to play video games
- The feeling that gaming is more important than any other activity
- Continuing to play video games despite the negative consequences of the behavior on relationships, academic performance, and/or work.
Is My Teen Addicted to Gaming?
According to video game addiction statistics, a growing number of teens are addicted to gaming. A study in the journal Addictive Behaviors found that among 3,000 students, more than 19 percent of males and 7.8 percent of females were classified as having gaming disorder. And gaming addiction numbers are likely to increase as the industry gains even more ground.
Warning Signs of Video Game Addiction
In addition to the WHO’s three primary criteria, the American Psychological Association (APA) specifies other warning signs that may indicate teenage video game addiction. According to the APA, a teen needs to experience at least five of the following nine criteria over a 12-month period to be classified with internet gaming disorder:
- Preoccupation with gaming
- Withdrawal symptoms like irritability and anxiety when deprived of video games
- Increased tolerance—the ability and need to spend more and more time gaming
- Loss of interest in other activities in favor of time playing video games
- Deceiving parents about the amount of time they spend gaming
- Loss of educational opportunities due to excessive gaming
- Using gaming to escape or relieve anxiety, guilt, or other negative emotions
- Inability to control the frequency and length of their playing
- Not limiting video game time even though it’s creating psychological problems.
Furthermore, a gaming disorder test should take into account a teen’s general mood and self-care habits. Are they acting irritable, anxious, or depressed? Is their grooming deteriorating? Are teens who play video games all the time forgetting to eat, or eating poorly, as a result of gaming? Does your daughter miss sleep due to staying up late playing video games? Does your son stay in his room all day gaming?
If the answer to one or more of those questions is yes, video game addiction treatment may be necessary.
Causes of Video Game Addiction
Kids are online more than ever before. Research shows that teens spend more than eight and a half hours online for entertainment. This increased exposure to digital media—including gaming as well as social media, web surfing, and watching videos—can trigger gaming disorder.
But the causes of video game addiction go deeper than how much time kids spend playing. There are underlying psychological factors that increase a teen’s vulnerability to video game addiction. Research shows a correlation between teenage video game addiction and the prevalence of depression and anxiety. In addition, studies have also found that adolescents with an insecure attachment to parents are more prone to internet addiction, including gaming addiction.
Hence, teens use excessive online gaming as a coping strategy for life problems. Teens play video games as a form of escape and a way to numb distress and discomfort. It’s no surprise, then, that gaming has been a go-to for people of all ages during stressful times. But teens are particularly at risk for video game addiction due to their high levels of collective trauma and their still-maturing brains.
Why Boys Are More Likely to Have Gaming Disorder
Video game addiction statistics consistently show that male adolescents are more likely than female teens to develop internet gaming disorder (IGD). In the study, researchers found a relationship between gaming disorder and a higher level of maladaptive cognitions in adolescent males. Maladaptive cognitions refer to unhealthy thinking patterns regarding self-expectations and beliefs. For example, teen boys in the study overvalued the rewards of gaming, and were unwilling to stop playing if they hadn’t completed certain gaming tasks.
Other studies have shown that gender differences in the brain may predict the increased risk for males of developing teenage video game addiction. MRI scans show that gaming appears to create more craving-related activity in the male brain, consistent with findings regarding substance and gambling addictions. Scans also showed that males had higher sensitivity to rewards and less sensitivity to losses than females, which might help account for their tendency to continue playing over long periods of time.
In addition, teen boys are more likely to turn to maladaptive coping mechanisms when struggling with mental health issues. Research shows that males feel greater shame about experiencing mental health symptoms, and internalize the idea that men should not show weakness or vulnerability. Therefore, they’re less apt to ask for help or talk about what they’re feeling. In addition, boys typically have lower “mental health literacy”—the ability to recognize, manage and prevent mental health symptoms. Video games serve as a way to self-medicate their distress and difficult emotions, much like substance use.
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Email UsResearch on the Negative Effects of Video Game Addiction on the Brain
Along with setting up the conditions for addiction, excessive gaming puts teens’ nervous systems into a constant state of overstimulation and hyperarousal. In this state, the body produces increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Hence, teenage video gaming addiction can actually change the brain over time.
In one study, young adults with gaming disorder showed lower volumes of gray and white brain matter, associated with poor decision-making, impulse control, and emotion regulation. Furthermore, teens who engage in pathological video gaming are at higher risk of substance abuse disorder, because teenage video game addiction primes the brain for other types of addiction.
The chronic stress caused by hyperarousal is coupled with physical issues produced by the sedentary nature of gaming. As a result, the negative effects of video game addiction include the following:
- Difficulty paying attention and controlling impulses
- Poor emotion management
- Decreased levels of compassion, creativity, and interest in learning
- Depression, irritability, and anxiety
- Lowered immune function caused by chronic stress
- Sleep deprivation, which is more likely with gaming than other online activities
- Becoming desensitized to violence
- Enhanced risk of ADHD
- Increased hostility, particularly in teens who have pre-existing personality traits like aggression and indifference to others—making them more susceptible to violent media, research shows.
Teens and Video Games: The Pros and Cons of Gaming for Teenagers
When it comes to teens and video games, research shows both benefits and downsides—similar to the effects of social media. One study found that pre-teens playing video games for three or more hours per day showed a small improvement in cognitive functioning. However, the same study also found that these children also had significantly more attention problems, depression symptoms, and ADHD scores compared to children who had never played video games.
Furthermore, a study on video gaming and psychological functioning found that people who play video games in order to establish social relationships experience more positive emotions while playing. But again, there was another side to the story. Those who play games in order to distract themselves from real-life issues had higher levels of mental health symptoms. They also had lower self-esteem and a more negative outlook. The researchers stated, “Poor psychological functioning seems to be a unique risk factor for potentially problematic video gaming.”
Ultimately, whether playing videos games is helpful or harmful for teens appears to depend on how often they play and why. How frequently do teens play online games? And what are their reasons for video gaming? Is it for fun and connection—or as a coping mechanism for painful emotions and life challenges? If it’s the latter, their risk of video gaming addiction increases.
Video Games and Teen Mental Health
The largest study ever done on teens and gaming and the effects of video game addiction was published in 2020. Researcher Sarah M. Coyne and her team followed 385 adolescents over six years. They found that during this time, 10 percent of gamers exhibited pathological video gaming behavior that got worse over the years. Furthermore, as they aged into young adulthood, the participants in this category showed higher levels of depression, anxiety, aggression, and problematic cell phone use.
Confirming previous research, most of the young people in this group were male. In addition, they had lower levels of prosocial behaviors—behaviors enacted with the intention to benefit others. In general, male adolescents who spend too much time gaming show more negative consequences on a social level, whole females experience negative emotional states.
“A host of research indicates that video games can become pathological and destructive to family life. Thus, it is important for families to recognize when video games are harmless entertainment and when they become a very real problem.”
Researcher Sarah Coyne
How Parents Can Help Prevent Teenage Video Game Addiction
How can you help your teen with issues playing video games too much? Limiting video game time seems like an obvious approach to dealing with a child’s video game addiction and preventing teen gaming disorder. However, research on teens and video games shows that setting rules about gaming tends to backfire when the limitations are too restrictive and don’t allow kids autonomy in their decision-making.
Therefore, it’s more productive for families to create a contract together that teens are willing to abide by. In addition, because boys’ reward-seeking brain activity appears to be triggered more by strategic and active games, moving them toward explorative, social, and problem-solving games may reduce the risk of gaming disorder.
Furthermore, parents searching for wisdom on how to break a child’s video game addiction can start by changing their own behavior. Adults can model healthy use of devices by taking regular times away from technology, including video games.
Addressing the Underlying Causes of Teen Gaming Disorder
Ultimately, however, the most effective way to prevent teenage video game addiction is by addressing the underlying issues that make teens vulnerable to gaming disorder. Hence, parents can help teens build positive coping mechanisms such as physical activity, time in nature, yoga, meditation, and creative expression.
In addition, keep the lines of communication open so that teens feel encouraged to share their feelings and experiences. This is particularly important for boys, who are generally less open about their emotional struggles than girls.
Should a teen’s behavior indicate gaming disorder or another mental health or co-occurring issue, treatment may be the only way to address the situation. In these cases, parents should seek the support of a mental health professional to help teens get to the root of the distress driving their video gaming.
Teen Mental Health Treatment at Newport Academy
As with substance abuse or eating disorders treatment, effective video game addiction treatment must address the root causes of the maladaptive behavior. First, teens need to recognize that their behavior is not serving their well-being, and commit to the work of healing. Subsequently, therapists guide them to explore the emotions they are self-medicating with gaming.
At Newport Academy, rather than offering video game addiction treatment, we provide mental health treatment for underlying depression, anxiety, and trauma. In addition, treatment guides teens to build healthy gaming habits and a balanced relationship with technology.
We treat the root causes of the maladaptive behaviors, not just the symptoms. Contact us today for more information about our outpatient and residential programs for teens, at locations across the country.
Frequently Asked Questions
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AMA Netw Open. 2022; 5(10): e2235721.
Front. Psychiatry. 2022 Mar; doi: 10.3389.
The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021
Addict Behav. 2021 Jan; 112:106637. doi: 10.1016.
Parents Together Survey 2020
BMC Psych. 2020 Jul; 20: 357.
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Front Psychol. 2019 Jul. 10:10.3389.
Social Cognitive Affective Neurosci. 2018 Nov; 13(11): 1203–1214.