Teen Psychosis Risk May Be Linked to Computer and Video Game Use

Kids playing too many video games and spending too much time online has long concerned parents, but new research has found that these activities may be associated with psychotic experiences.

Teenagers who spend a lot of time playing video games and on the computer are more likely to have a psychotic experience, according to a new paper in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

These psychotic experiences ranged in extremity from mild suspiciousness and bizarre ideas to delusions and hallucinations.

The researchers studied a cohort of 1,226 participants born between 1997 and 1998, and found that those who played more video games, and those who increased then decreased their computer usage, were more likely to have a psychotic experience at some point before the age of 23.

“Trajectories of higher video gaming and increasing-then-decreasing (“curved”) computer use during adolescence were associated with higher levels of psychotic experiences at age 23 years,” the researchers—from McGill University in Canada—wrote in the paper.

Between 5 and 7 percent of adults had a psychotic experience at some point, with the first often occurring during teenage years. Psychotic experiences or episodes often involve hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, paranoia, and depressive moods.

The participants were asked questions including “Have you ever felt as if people seem to drop hints about you or say things with a double meaning?”, “Have you ever felt as if the thoughts in your head are not your own?” and “Have you ever heard voices when you are alone?” to determine if they had experienced periods of persecutory ideations, bizarre experiences, and perceptual abnormalities.

The researchers found that using video games more during adolescence was associated with between 3 and 7 percent more psychotic experiences. However, much of this association may be explained by the fact that video games are often linked with other factors that could be confounding the data.

“It is notable that higher video gaming was associated with many indicators of adversity, including household income insufficiency, as well as mental health and interpersonal difficulties at age 12 years. Elsewhere, lower socioeconomic status, male sex, and interpersonal and mental health problems have similarly been associated with higher levels of video gaming in children and adolescents,” the authors wrote.

For some individuals, video gaming is thought to aid in managing emotions and fostering social connections, potentially more effectively than passive media like TV, the researchers explain. Children and teens might discover that the psychological and social aspects of gaming help them deal with feelings of loneliness and being excluded socially. Conversely, challenges such as economic instability, mental health issues, and interpersonal struggles may limit access to other activities, thus leading to a preference for video games.

Therefore, the researchers found that the association between video games and psychotic experiences could be explained by these other factors.

Stock image of a teenager playing video games. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

They also found an association between a curved trajectory of computer use—increasing then decreasing throughout teenage years—and psychotic experiences, leading to a 4 to 5 percent higher incidence by 23 years old.

This link was still significant even when considering all other confounding factors.

“A curved (increasing-then-decreasing) trajectory of computer use retained a modest association with more PEs (psychotic experiences),” the researchers wrote in their conclusions.

This research is hoped to help psychologists understand why teenagers may develop psychotic experiences and figure out how to best help them.

“Understanding the environmental determinants and psychosocial functions of media use during adolescence may help better integrate digital technologies in the prevention and management of [psychotic experiences],” they wrote.

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