Teenagers under the Influence: Alcohol, Drugs and Video Games
Researchers from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham have carried out a study which assesses the relationship between playing video games and substance use amongst adolescents. The investigation, which was subsequently published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking, found that teenagers who play video games that reference drinking and smoking are almost twice as likely to consume alcohol and/or tobacco themselves.
Another significant conclusion reached by those conducting the study is that references to substances in video games are at times undetected by the official regulator which advises on age certification. Psychologist Dr Joanne Cranwell from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies notes: “While 80% of children aged 10-15 play packaged or online video games with age rating higher than their age, more than half of British parents are unaware of the harmful content this exposes them to.” She ends by stating that “future research should focus on identifying the levels of exposure in terms of dose that youth gamers are exposed to during actual gameplay and the effects of this on long-term alcohol and smoking behaviour.”
