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Children of single parents more likely to develop gaming addiction: Study
As video games have become more and more popular over recent years, researchers have taken to looking at the effect on players.
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Dota 2 is popular throughout the globe and has over 12.5 million users. (Shutterstock/File)
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esearchers from Moscow State University of Psychology and Education have found that while gaming addiction is becoming more widespread amongst all children, children from single-parent homes are more likely to dedicate most of their time to online gaming.
The researchers looked at 103 teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 and 25 who were frequent Dota 2 players. Dota 2 is popular across the globe and has over 12.5 million users.
By analyzing the background information of their subjects, they found that teenagers from single-parent families were the most likely to be avid gamers.
"Teenagers who are raised in single-parent families and have a more prominent role in this state of conflict are more subject to gaming addiction than others," said Olga Rubtsova, the group's leader and director of the Modern Childhood Inter-Disciplinary Research Center. "Role conflict is characteristic of nearly all teenagers. Their desire to feel adult clashes with the restrictions imposed on them both by parents and the social environment.”
Read also: WHO delays decision on recognizing game addiction as mental disorder
Rubtsova added that their research’s main goal was to create a program that would use gaming behavior as a tool to diagnose the personality characteristics of gamers.
As video games have become more and more popular over recent years, researchers have taken to looking at its effect on players. But as gaming is a relatively recent pastime, study results tend to be conflicting and controversial.
Some researchers believe there to be a strong link between gaming and issues like aggression and anxiety, while others believe video games have a strong positive impact, and that those who play games more often outperform those who do not in math and natural sciences.
"This controversy should not surprise us, considering the complicated phenomena facing modern researchers," concluded Rubtsova. (sul/kes)
