Good news for gamers! Playing video games BENEFITS mental health, study claims - but only if you play for less than three hours a day

Video games can have a positive mental health effect on people of all ages – unless you play for more than three hours a day – a study suggests.

It is often believed that video gaming is bad – especially for children – with concerns it can cause issues with development and socialisation, promote violence and lead to addiction.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has even labelled gaming disorder as a health condition, characterised by impaired control over gaming.

But now, a study of more than 97,000 people indicates that owning a video game console and playing games can actually have a positive effect on mental well-being.

Owing to a shortage of game consoles in Japan between 2020 and 2022, retailers used lotteries to assign a PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch to residents aged between 10 and 69.

Analysis, carried out by researchers at Nihon University in Tokyo, revealed that both owning one of the game consoles and playing games improved mental health.

However, participants who played video games for over three hours per day did not enjoy the same health benefits.

Owning a console was also shown to improve life satisfaction and reduce psychological stress.

The researchers caution that collecting data during the COVID-19 pandemic could have affected the findings.

However, they suggest their research highlights the complex impact of screen time on mental well-being.

Writing in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, they said: 'Through a natural experimental approach, we demonstrated that winning a lottery for a Switch or PS5 positively impacted mental well-being for individuals aged 10–69 in Japan.

'All our estimates indicated positive correlations between video gaming and life satisfaction—a finding that, while counterintuitive given certain public perceptions around gaming, is consistent with recent studies.'

Commenting on the study Pete Etchells, Professor of Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University, said: 'The results show that broadly, there was a positive relationship with games console ownership and mental wellbeing.

'More than that though, we see some interesting nuance; Nintendo Switch ownership was associated with more positive outcomes in younger populations, and slightly favouring female participants, whereas PS5 ownership was associated with more pronounced outcomes in males and adult populations without children.'

Dr Mike Cook, a senior lecturer in Computer Science at King's College London, added: 'Research which helps people understand the benefits of play is good for everyone, particularly when it comes to videogames which suffer from an image problem globally.

'Videogames are not just important for children, but for adults of all ages, and are becoming increasingly important for older generations as a source of social connection and mental challenge.'