As gaming continues to grow in popularity, the debate over its effects on children and young adults has only gained more attention. While some studies suggest that video games are not harmful to children, a recent study suggests that gaming could have negative effects on young girls’ ability to develop social skills.

This week the Society for Research in Child Development published the results of a study focused on the effects of gaming on children’s development. The study was conducted in Norway with 873 Norwegian children over the course of 6 years, starting when the kids were 6 and concluding when they were 12, and included questionnaires for parents and teachers.

While the study has a wide range of findings, perhaps the most interesting involves the differences between the social development of boys versus girls. According to the video game study, boys’ social development was not impacted by video games, but girls who spent more time gaming earlier in their adolescence displayed weaker social skills about two years later.

The study also found that kids with higher BMI (body mass index) were more likely to gravitate towards video games as a way to fill their need to belong. However, the study claims that higher BMI children tend to have problems developing social skills in general.

Based on the study, it seems as though there is a connection between video games and the development of social skills. On the one hand, the study claims that children who game at a young age struggle to develop social skills, and those with poor social skills turn to gaming to fill some of the void lost by a lack of social interaction. This does appear to be more prevalent in girls, though, as one of the study’s findings was that boys' gaming time did not hinder their social development.

Of course, 873 kids in Norway is only a small sample size and may not be indicative of children as a whole. Still, there are findings from the study worth considering and monitoring, if only to help a child develop their social skills.

Source: SRCD Child Development (via Science Daily)