A study was done by adapting the standards of pathological gambling to see how many youth gamers were addicted. Gamers were considered to be addicted if they showed 6 out of 11 symptoms of pathological gambling. Some of these symptoms include: trouble paying attention in school, stealing to support their addiction, video game systems in their bedrooms, more health problems, and doing poorly in school.
Video game addiction is damaging to their functioning.Children who are addicted to video games are more likely to report attention-deficit disorder (ADD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Addiction also causes family, social, school, and psychological damage. Gentile states, "It's not that the games are addictive. It's that some kids use them in a way that is out of balance and harms various other areas of their lives."
Some researchers aren't convinced
While they agree that too much gaming takes a toll after a while, they wouldn't call it an addiction. Michael Brody, chairman of the media committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says, "they do it to relieve their anxiety and depression. It's all a matter of balance."
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