The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) has issued a statement calling a forthcoming gaming study “flawed”. The study, conducted by Douglas Gentile and due for publication in the February edition of the Paediatrics periodical, apparently attempts to link video games with mental health problems in children from Singapore.
The ESA’s statement points out that Gentile has a history of attacking video games and that his previous work has been extensively criticised for “exaggerating the purported harmful effects of video games”. Part of the ESA’s statement reads:
“The study, authored by Gentile, contains a variety of flaws. For example, its definition of "pathological gaming" is neither scientifically nor medically accepted and the type of measure used has been criticized by other scholars. Other outcomes are also measured using dubious instruments when well-validated tools are readily available. In addition, because the effect sizes of the outcomes are mainly trivial, it leaves open the possibility the author is simply interpreting things as negatively as possible”
Gentile’s study is not yet available for general consumption and it remains to be seen whether his methodology is as flawed as the ESA has made it out to be but, if his previously published work is any indication, this new study may turn out to be a biased take on the effects of video games.
Brett Venter
