Competitive video game: harmful effects for health, but positive for cognitive functions?

Public Health found that playing “competitive video games” is not good for physical and mental health, but that practice can have positive effects on attention span and memory.

“Competitive video game players far exceed the recommended daily amount of sedentary behavior,” says INSPQ’s “Knowledge Digest” on the video game phenomenon. Competition, which was published on Monday.

According to this document, excessive sitting time encroached on other lifestyle habits of players, who generally sleep less and who engage in less physical activity.

Furthermore, those who spend a lot of time “exercise” on video games also tend to develop musculoskeletal disorders, notes makeup author Maryse Caron.

Mental health

Analyzes identified by the INSPQ also suggest a link between time spent playing video games and poor mental health.

“However, there are few studies that focus specifically on this aspect of health and the latter are mostly cross-sectional, which does not allow us to take into account the evolution of the phenomenon over time or establish causation,” explains Maryse Caron in his report.

“Furthermore, with the years of the pandemic and all the disruptions to daily life that COVID-19 may have caused, it appears that the mental health of teens and young adults is already deteriorating as screen use and competitive video game play are on the rise,” may we read next.

Cognitive functions

However, it appears that video games can have positive effects on players’ cognitive functions, such as attention span, visual search speed, and working memory.

“This situation is interesting because it suggests that playing competitive video games can have certain advantages in the development of young players,” emphasized El-Sayed.^I Adding that studies do not always take into account the age and cognitive development of the gamer, while the effect of playing video games may depend on this.

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As competitive video gaming is an “increasingly prevalent” practice, especially among young adults, the author of the synthesis concluded her report on the importance of further research on the topic.

“The few reliable studies describing this practice and its potential health effects highlight the need for more research to better understand this phenomenon,” she wrote.