Nearly one in 10 children and teens who play video games may be addicted, according new research published in the journal Psychological Science.
After polling kids and teens between the ages of 8 and 11, 8.5 percent of those who played video games exhibited at least six of 11 addiction symptoms such as skipping household chores or homework to play games, poor performance on tests of homework because of playing, and playing games to escape problems. These signs of addition can also lead to pathological gambling.
On average, boys typically exhibited more than two addiction symptoms, while girls displayed less than two. However, 12 percent of boys and 8 percent of girls exhibited at least six symptoms.
The researchers adopted the gambling addiction criteria for its self-administered questionaire because there is no current medical diagnosis of video game addiction.
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