Couch potato kids who spend hours on end staring at a screen are more likely to develop mental health issues, warns new research.
Excessive time spent computer gaming or watching videos is "strongly tied" to compulsive behavior problems, scientists say.
For pre-teens, the chances of developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) over a two-year period increased by 13 percent for every hour a day they played video games and by 11 percent for every hour they watched videos, according to the American study.
Study lead author Dr. Jason Nagata said: “Children who spend excessive time playing video games report feeling the need to play more and more and being unable to stop despite trying.
“Intrusive thoughts about video game content could develop into obsessions or compulsions.”
He said watching videos, too, can allow for compulsive viewing of similar content while algorithms and adverts can exacerbate that behavior.
OCD is a mental health condition involving recurrent and unwanted thoughts as well as repetitive behaviors that a person feels driven to perform.
The intrusive thoughts and behaviors can become severely debilitating for sufferers and their families.
The research team asked more than 9,200 nine- and 10-year-olds how much time they spent on different types of platforms. The average was 3.9 hours per day.
Two years later, the researchers asked their caregivers about OCD symptoms and diagnoses. The use of screens for educational purposes was excluded. At the two-year mark, 4.4 percent of the children had developed new-onset OCD.
Video games and streaming videos were each connected to a higher risk of developing OCD.
Dr. Nagata said that texting, video chat and social media didn’t link individually with OCD, but that may be because the preteens in the sample didn’t use them much.
He said the results may differ for teenagers.
Dr. Nagata and his colleagues discovered earlier this year that excessive screen time was linked to disruptive behavior disorders in nine- to 11-year-olds, though social media was the biggest contributor in that case.
In 2021, they found adolescent screen time had doubled during the pandemic.
He added: “Although screen time can have important benefits such as education and increased socialization, parents should be aware of the potential risks, especially to mental health.
“Families can develop a media use plan which could include screen-free times including before bedtime.”
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