Violent Video Games May Increase Risk of Depression

Previous studies have shown the dangers of violent video games. Some have even suggested that they may increase certain aggressive or deviant behaviors.

Now, recent findings published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, found that they can also increase the risk of depression.

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, Ca.,) the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Ga.,) and the Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (Boston, Ma.,) found that fifth graders who played high-violence video games for two hours or more per day were significantly more likely to deal with symptoms of depression throughout the study period than those who played low-violence video games for the same amount of time. Researchers also noted that the findings were consistent throughout all racial and ethnic groups.

"One of the strengths of this study is its large and ethnically diverse sample," concluded editor-in-chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium, in a news release.

Previous studies have also shown that children or teenagers who engage in mature-rated or violent video games are also more likely to engage in a wide variety of deviant behaviors, including alcohol use, smoking cigarettes, delinquency and risky sexual practices.