Addiction to violent video games can lead to prolonged aggression

Although video game addiction is not currently considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, it is a growing problem that currently affects 8.5 percent of youths under the age of 12, according to MyAddiction.com.

A new study published in the current issue of Social, Psychological and Personality Science has revealed that violent video games can prolong a child's aggression for up to 24 hours after playing.

Lead investigator Brad Bushman and his colleagues from Ohio State University reported that thinking about the game can increase aggression long after the TV has been turned off.

The researchers randomly assigned teenagers to play one of six video games, only half of which were violent. After 20 minutes, they were asked to think of ways to improve their techniques.

The following day, researchers observed that the participants who had been assigned a violent game and who had resumed thinking about it showed high levels of aggression. However, this effect was only true of the male subjects.

Bushman concluded that the study may have real world applications, as people often play violent games for much longer than 20 minutes, in addition to habitually ruminating about their strategy.