Time Spent Gaming and Social Competence in Children: Reciprocal Effects Across Childhood

• Hygen, Beate W. ^[1] ; Belsky, Jay ^[2] ; Stenseng, Frode ^[3] ; Skalicka, Vera ^[3] ; Kvande, Marianne N. ^[3] ; Zahl-Thanem, Tonje ^[1] ; Wichstrøm, Lars ^[3]
  1. [1] NTNU Social Research

     NTNU Social Research

     Noruega

     
  2. [2] University of California System

     University of California System

     Estados Unidos

     
  3. [3] Norwegian University of Science and Technology

     Norwegian University of Science and Technology

     Noruega

     

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• Localización: Child development, ISSN 0009-3920, Vol. 91, Nº. 3, 2020, págs. 861-875
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13243
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investigate whether the quantity of time children spend on gaming is related to their social development, making this the first study to examine this relationship in children. We examine prospective relations between time spent gaming and social competence in a community sample of Norwegian 6 year olds (n = 873) followed up at ages 8, 10, and 12, controlling for socioeconomic status, body mass index, and time spent gaming together with friends. Results revealed that greater social competence at both 8 and 10 years predicted less gaming 2 years later and that more age-10 gaming predicted less social competence at age 12 but only among girls.