Videogame exposure positively associates with selective attention in a cross-sectional sample of young children

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 27;16(9):e0257877. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257877. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

There is growing interest in how exposure to videogames is associated with young children's development. While videogames may displace time from developmentally important activities and have been related to lower reading skills, work in older children and adolescents has suggested that experience with attention-demanding/fast-reaction games positively associates with attention and visuomotor skills. In the current study, we assessed 154 children aged 4-7 years (77 male; mean age 5.38) whose parents reported average daily weekday recreational videogame time, including information about which videogames were played. We investigated associations between videogame exposure and children's sustained, selective, and executive attention skills. We found that videogame time was significantly positively associated only with selective attention. Longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the directional association between time spent playing recreational videogames and attention skills.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attention*
  • Child
  • Child Development
  • Child, Preschool
  • Executive Function
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Psychological Tests
  • Time Factors
  • Video Games*
  • Visual Perception

Grants and funding

This work was supported by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (DG 435787) to SB [www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca]. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) award to AS [www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca]. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Scheme award (Project 156415) to SB [cihr-irsc.gc.ca]. Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) Postdoctoral Award to CR [albertainnovates.ca]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.