Are videogames addictive? Well, science apparently says so. A new study, which was conducted by the director of research of the National Institute on Media and the Family, who is also a psychology professor at the Iowa State University, puts the figure of addicted gamers at 8.5% of the overall population of people playing videogames.

Dr. Douglas Gentile surveyed 1,178 US players aged 8-18. There were eleven questions related to addiction, modeled after tests that detect other kinds of addictions. If a gamer responded positively to more than six of them, then the study indicated him/her as being addicted to gaming. Questions dealt with issues such as skipping homework to play videogames, playing to escape problems, trying to play less and even stealing money to sustain a gaming habit.

Dr. Douglas Gentile stated that “Pathological gamers had been playing for more years, played more frequently and for more time, knew more of the video-game rating symbols, received worse grades in school, were more likely to report having trouble paying attention in school, were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with an attention-deficit disorder, had more health problems that were likely to have been exacerbated by long hours of playing video games (e.g., hand pain and wrist pain), and were more likely to report having felt 'addicted' to games and having friends they thought were 'addicted' to games.” Although the study found correlations between the above symptoms and gaming addiction, no causations have been proven.

The Entertainment Software Association reacted to the study from the National Institute on Media and the Family saying that it could be valuable but that there are several issues with it, from the fact that it is sponsored by an entity similar to a lobby group, to the fact that addiction is being declared for some respondents without an evaluation from a physician, which amounts to self-evaluation when it comes to a medical condition. Still, the ESA has stated that the study should be replicated in order to asses the impact of videogaming on the lives of young people.