14 DAY TRIAL // If you're a father, you have a daughter and you happen to love video games, than you should keep on playing and include your kid too (in age-appropriate video games, of course).
This is what concluded a team of researchers from Brigham Young University’s School of Family Life, after carrying out a study on video games and children between 11 and 16 years old.
It seems that girls who play video games with a parent, have several advantages, like better behavior, stronger mental health and feeling more connected to their families.
This study involved 287 families with an adolescent child.
The games that girls played more often were Mario Kart, Mario Brothers, Wii Sports, Rock Band and Guitar Hero, while boys preferred Call of Duty, Wii Sports and Halo.
When boys played with one of their parents, it made no difference whatsoever on the outcomes measured by the researchers – positive behavior, aggression, family connection, mental health.
On the other hand, playing with a parent proved essential for girls, since it accounted for almost 20% of the variation on the measured outcomes.
Professor Sarah Coyne is the lead author of the study and she explains that “the surprising part about this for me is that girls don’t play video games as much as boys.
“But they did spend about the same amount of time co-playing with a parent as boys did.”
The most important thing about this study is that the games have to be age-appropriate, otherwise (if they are rated M for mature, for example) the statistical relationship between co-playing and family connectedness is weakened.
Coyne and her co-author Laura Padilla-Walker give possible explanations for the gender differences in the study:
“We’re guessing it’s a daddy-daughter thing, because not a lot of moms said yes when we asked them if they played video games,” said Padilla-Walker.
“Co-playing is probably an indicator of larger levels of involvement.”
Also, it is quite possible that since boys spend far more time playing with their friends, the time they spend playing with parents simply doesn't stand out.
Previous studies linked frequent video game playing with poor relationship with friends and family, but Padilla-Walker says that “if you spend huge amounts of time absorbed in any activity, it’s going to affect your relationships.”
She adds that “any face-to-face time you have with your child can be a positive thing, especially if the activity is something the child is interested in.”
This study appears today (February 1, 2011) in the Journal of Adolescent Health.