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Key points
- Millions of Americans regularly play video games, and time spent gaming has increased during the pandemic.
- When played in moderation, video games have potential benefits for focus, spatial skills, emotion regulation, and more.
- Gaming is also linked to negative sleep patterns including less sleep, longer times to fall asleep, and less time in deep, slow-wave sleep.
Do you have any gamers in your household? Chances are, whether you have children or not, the answer is yes. Video games are phenomenally popular with both kids and adults. And during the pandemic, the popularity of gaming and time spent gaming have taken a big jump.
A lot of the attention on the effects of video games has focused on children and teens—with good reason, of course. The effects of gaming on adults—including on adult sleep—tend to get overlooked. Adults are vulnerable to sleep problems associated with gaming, too.
According to recent data, an estimated 221 million Americans play video games. We know video games are wildly popular with kids and teens. But a huge number of adults are playing also. According to recent statistics, 80 percent of gamers are over the age of 18, and the average age range of video game players in the U.S. is 35-44 years.
There’s a lingering perception that video game players are mostly young men. While there is a gender gap in gaming, it’s not as big as you might think. Some pre-pandemic research found that 4 in 10 adult women play video games, and data from this year indicates that 45 percent of video game players identify as female.
The number of people playing video games rose by 6 percent during the pandemic, according to survey data collected for the Entertainment Software Association. This survey also shows that more than half of gamers increased their time spent playing video games during the pandemic—and that 90 percent of pandemic video game players intend to keep playing even as life opens back up.
Given all that we’ve been through in the past year and a half, it’s not surprising that video games have become an even greater outlet and pastime for so many adults. Gaming for grownups provided a way to maintain social contact through months of stay-at-home time, and it’s been a source of escapism and stress relief.
I’m not here to tell you that you shouldn’t be playing video games. First, given the popularity of gaming, that’s an unrealistic message. Moreover, there is research showing that in moderate amounts, gaming can have psychological, cognitive, and physical benefits for adults and children. For example:
- Games with social and cooperative elements may have benefits for psychological well-being, social and cooperation skills, and empathy.
- Gaming may help improve emotional regulation.
- Gaming has been linked to increased gray matter in areas of the brain that handle problem solving, memory, and other mental processing tasks, and research has shown that gaming in young adults may have cognitive benefits including focus, task-switching, spatial skills, and memory.
- Games that include physical movement (sometimes called “exergames”) may contribute to better physical health and better psychological health, including in older adults.
It’s important to recognize that the potential benefits of gaming diminish or disappear when we play video games excessively, and when gaming crowds out other aspects of life, including socializing outside of gaming, work and family responsibilities, and sleep.
How Video Games Impact Sleep
A lot of the research on sleep and gaming has focused on children and adolescents and much less on the effects on adults. Research shows that gaming is associated with several negative changes to sleep in children and teens, including:
- Less total sleep time
- Delayed bedtimes
- Taking longer to fall asleep
- Spending less time in deep, slow-wave sleep
Many of the studies that show negative sleep effects in kids and teens focus on the impact of gaming in the evening, within an hour or two before bed. Gaming close to bedtime can interfere with children’s sleep, but there’s some variation in the research over the degree of sleep disruption that comes from evening gaming. We need more research in this area, and more research about the sleep consequences of gaming at other times of the day.
It’s important to note: Research shows that both the duration of gaming and the content of gaming (including violent, action-packed, and intense games) are likely to be significant factors in how gaming affects kids' sleep—something that’s also emerging in research in adults. How much kids play video games, and the content of the games themselves, may be as important for sleep as when they play.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD, DABSM
