A new study by the University of Oxford revealed that spending time playing video games can be good for mental health, after sales soared during 2020 due to confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The research took into account data provided by the companies Electronic Arts and Nintendo of America on the time that respondents spent playing.
This was found to be a small positive factor in the well-being of people who played two video games in particular: Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Animal Crossing: New Horizon.
It was also published, according to the 'Associated Press', that the level of enjoyment in the players can be another factor that adds to mental well-being.
See also: Teen suffers a stroke after playing video games 22 hours a day
"Our findings show that video games are not necessarily bad for health, there are other psychological factors that have a significant effect on people's well-being," said Andrew Przybylski, director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute.
This study runs counter to the belief that video games can cause addiction and aggressive behavior, but there are still more elements to consider.
"Gambling can be an activity that is positively related to people's mental health, and the regulation of video games could deprive players of these benefits," Przybylski said.
Due to the nature of the games investigated, it is necessary to carry out more studies on other types of content, particularly violent solo games.
See also:
Are your children's video games guilty of violence, as Trump says?
10 signs to detect if your child is addicted to video games
WHO declares video game addiction as mental illness
Related video: Spending more than 1 hour in front of a screen is dangerous for the health of children
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/BH3XAD4LLRD4JAVWMQKATJXMDY.jpg)
