Dr. Kowert has been researching the psychology of video games and the relationship between video games and mental health for 15 years. Back in 2008, in her work as a therapist, Dr. Kowert began encountering parents concerned about their children playing online games, during the heyday of massively multiplayer online games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft. A lack of resources and information online back then inspired Dr. Kowert to explore this research area, ultimately earning a PhD looking at the impact of video games.

So many reasons. First of all, they are fun. Kids and adults alike want to do things that are fun. But if you look at the research, it all tends to come down to three big reasons: First, the sense of social connectedness – games can be ‘social glue’ like when you are in the schoolyard with your other friends. Second, the sense of achievement – games are really good at promoting a sense of achievement, whether it’s making it to the next level or getting awards on leaderboards. It provides that sense that you’ve completed something. Third, a sense of autonomy – having the freedom to play and to explore a big open world game drives our interest in our engagement in games.

Yes, the good does outweigh the bad, by a long shot. That might come as a surprise to a lot of people because we tend to see headlines focus on negative aspects of games or kind of a moral panic, blaming games for all that’s wrong with society. But if you look at the research, overwhelmingly the impact of games are more positive than negative.

This is the most studied relationship in all of game studies (and rightfully so!). Based on these studies, there is no direct relationship between violent video game play and violent crime. There are only a handful of studies that found short term increases in aggression post violent gameplay, but those small handful of studies who have found those effects are largely criticized for their measures and their methods. For example, one of the common ones is you bring someone into a lab, you have them play a game and you do a word completion task. If before you played you saw “K, I, blank, blank” and you said “kiss”; and then after you played, you saw a “K, I, blank, blank” and you said “kill”, that's considered an increase in aggression. So then you get this headline of games that increase aggression and it's like, is that really something that's tangible in the real world?

That is the stereotype that actually inspired my PhD. It is actually very much just a stereotype. Games are highly social activities, but it is understandable where this idea comes from – as a parent, you might see your child alone in a room with a headset on, not particularly being very chatty. That could look like it is socially isolating, but really they are engaged in a space that is shared by hundreds of thousands or other people. If you look at the research, they don’t have less friends, they don’t have less social skills or social ability. That being said, there might be a slight relationship between [games and] shyness or social anxiety.

Playing games with them is often the thing I say most. I find a lot of [parents] have a lot of trepidation. I think it's because they were afraid that they didn't know what they were doing or they were afraid they were going to fail, but honestly, that's the best part. My daughter loves Minecraft and you know, we all have flaws – mine is my 3D spatial awareness. Minecraft is very difficult for me to navigate, but I do it anyway. And she thinks it's hilarious that I can't do it. Doing it together opens up broader conversations about all kinds of things about what's happening at school and what's happening in life and things that she's worried about and her struggles and her anxieties Being able to have a shared activity will help provide a little bit of a distraction so those deeper conversations can open between parents and children.

Yes. Play has a lot of positive repercussions. It’s associated with extended longevity, even a longer lifespan. I would like to believe that what I see in the future is more of an understanding and acceptance. Put another way, games are a form of play and that play is important. If we all just played more (which is maybe not the answer), we would all have more firsthand insight into the benefits and the joys of being playful. It is very important to tap into that playfulness, no matter how old you are. 

Stay involved with what your children are doing in games! Ask them questions like “What are you playing?”, “Who are you playing with?” and “What do you like about it?” It is really important to keep a pulse on what our kids are doing and why they like it, and show that as a parent, you are interested. It will help quell your fears because you will learn a lot about who they are with, what they are doing and what kind of content they are interacting with.