Ben Hale: Content Marketer & Writer

Connections News Blog, February 27, 2015

“Turn off those video games and go outside and play!” Whether your mother has yelled this at you or not, you might be interested in some new research from the School of Family Life. The study links pathological video game use (PVGU), or video game addiction, to certain physiological changes.

Nathan Money (‘10), a psychology alumnus and current med student who worked on the project, explained the implications of this discovery: “We have measured, documented differences in physiological markers in children with pathological video game use. This puts video game addiction, which is not currently a diagnosable disorder, in the same group as other addictions.”

The two physiological effects the researchers focused on are called Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and Galvanic Skin Conductance. According to family life professor Sarah Coyne, who took the lead on this project, these terms “are fancy ways for saying how your heart and your breathing work together and the electrical conductance your skin has.” By monitoring these effects during the execution of various tasks, the researchers could pinpoint any influence PVGU had on the body.

In order to obtain this physiological data, researchers invited participants from the Flourishing Families study to take part in their project. Adolescents who were addicted to video games were compared to those who were not. In one part of the study, researchers asked participants to solve a Rubik’s cube while their vital signs were monitored. After the experiment, the non-addicted group showed a much stronger response to the puzzle than the addicted group.

“We think one reason they’re turning to video games is that they’re not getting cognitively stimulated in the real world. We’re showing evidence for that from a physiological basis,” said Coyne.

This discovery could change the way mental health professionals approach PVGU. Like Money said, this research provides further evidence for diagnosing PVGU as an actual disorder, at least from a physiological basis. According to Coyne, LDS Addiction Recovery Services is including video game addiction as part of their recovery program.

Currency-related surnames aren’t the only things Coyne and Money have in common—they’re also brother and sister. Apparently doing interesting research runs in the family. On working with his sister, Money said, “I did feel a lot of stress as I was doing my part of the study. I knew if I messed it up I might be paying for it for a long time!” It looks like Nathan Money’s hard work paid off. He, Dr. Coyne, and the rest of the researchers created an insightful report.

Other members of the project included BYU professors Justin Dyer, Randy Day, James Harper and BYU undergraduate Rebecca Densley. To read the full study, see http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X14007046.