Reference: Adachi, P. J. C., & Willoughby, T. (2015). From the couch to the sports field: The longitudinal associations between sports video game play, self-esteem, and involvement in sports. Psychology of Popular Media Culture., 4(4), 329-341. Are you someone who enjoys playing sports video games? Psychology researchers studied 500 Canadian teens for 4 years to determine if there is any connection between playing sports video games and being involved in real sports. They measured any impact on teens’ self-esteem. Results? Over four years, those who played sports video games became more involved in real sports over time. They also found that teenagers who played sports more often were more likely to play sports video games. Likely those playing sports together encouraged each other to interact socially by playing video games related to their sport. Adolescents who played sports were more likely to be involved in video games and had higher self-esteem. Thus, being successfully involved socially and working together, their self-esteem increased. Parents! Video games can be a good thing! Findings suggest that sports video games can be helpful for teenagers especially when they play real sports that boost their self-esteem and allow socializing with peers. Playing video games may help kids get interested and involved in sports, thus helping them feel better about themselves.

Written by Jarret Bain B.S.