Scientists from the University of California discovered that a large amount of screen time contributes to a change in the psyche of children. The results of their research were published in the journal Journal of Adolescent Health.
9 thousand children aged 9-10 took part in the study. At the start of the study, the children spent about 4 hours playing games or watching videos in front of the screen, according to the questionnaires completed by the parents. The scientists collected data on the subjects’ habits for two years, and the scientists also conducted various psychological and cognitive tests.
As it turned out, 4.4% of the participants developed obsessive-compulsive disorder. The probability of this increased for every day the child spent playing video games (15%) or watching videos like YouTube (11%).
According to scientists, children prone to developing OCD may be constantly drawn to spending time in front of the computer or watching videos. All this further affects the risk of exacerbating their compulsiveness.
OCD is a mental disorder that can be chronic, progressive, or episodic. In OCD, people involuntarily experience intrusive, disturbing, or frightening thoughts (obsessions). He constantly and unsuccessfully tries to get rid of the anxiety caused by thoughts with the help of equally obsessive and boring actions (compulsions).