Study Reveals Nature of GB's Population - Sad and Lonely

[Aqua-chan]

Thought I should share this with you all...

Quote:

Survey: Average gamer is 35, fat and depressed CDC study finds playing leads to ‘lower extraversion’ in adult gamers By Suzanne Choney updated 4:09 p.m. CT, Tues., Aug 18, 2009 A new study says the average age of video-game players in the United States is 35, and oh, by the way: They're overweight and tend to be depressed. Investigators from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University and Andrews University analyzed survey data from 552 adults in the Seattle-Tacoma area. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 90, according to the study, published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The hypothesis was that video-game players have a higher body mass index — the measure of a person's weight in relation to their height — and "a greater number of poor mental health days" versus nonplayers, said Dr. James B. Weaver III of the CDC's National Center for Health Marketing. The hypothesis was correct, he said. The findings, he said in the article, "differentiated adult video-game players from nonplayers. Video-game players also reported lower extraversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns." The Seattle-Tacoma area was chosen for the study, researchers said, both because of its size as the 13th largest media market in the United States and because its Internet usage level is "the highest in the nation." The study was done in 2006; the results analyzed in 2008. While the study helps "illuminate the health consequences of video-game playing," it is not conclusive, its researchers say, but rather serves to "reveal important patterns in health-related correlates of video-game playing and highlights avenues for future research." Female video-game players reported greater incidents of depression and "lower health status" than women who do not play video games, researchers said, while male players reported a higher BMI and more Internet use time than nonplayers. The findings "appear consistent with earlier research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status and mental health concerns," Weaver and other co-authors say in the article. 'Digital self-medication'? One interpretation of the findings, researchers said, is that among women, video-game playing "may be a form of 'digital self-medication.' Evidence shows that women are effective at mood management through their media content choices, so some women may immerse themselves in cognitively engaging digital environments as a means of self-distraction; in short, they can literally 'take their minds off' their worries while playing a video game." An implication of that, researchers said, is that "habitual use of video games as a coping response may provided a genesis for obsessive-compulsive video-game playing, if not video-game addiction." Among men who play video games, compared to those who don't, "male video-game players spend more time using the Internet and rely more on Internet-community social support," researchers said. "They also tend to report higher BMI and lower extraversion. "These findings illustrate that, among men, the association among sedentary behaviors, physical inactivity, and overweight status observed in children and young adults may extend into adulthood." Both male and female video game players spend more time than nonplayers seeking friendship and support on the Internet, the study found, "a finding consistent with prior research pointing to the willingness of adult video-game enthusiasts to sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games." The data, Weaver said, points to the need for "further research among adults to clarify how to use digital opportunities more effectively to promote health and prevent disease." In a commentary in the same issue of the magazine, Dr. Brian A. Primack of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine agrees, and asks: "How do we simultaneously help the public steer away from imitation playlike activities, harness the potentially positive aspects of video games and keep in perspective the overall place of video games in our society?" For children and adults, he writes, games that require physical exertion, such as "Hide and seek" and "Freeze tag" are "still probably what we need most." © 2009 msnbc.com Reprints

[Bloodstalker]

Fantastic. As if I didn't have enough to deal with, now I have to find out that I'm overweight and depressed on top of everything else. How much effort did you have to go through to dig this up? It's all just to try and make me go on one of those weird fashinable diets, isn;t it?

And here I was starting to think you didn't care about me anymore.

[Aqua-chan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodstalker Fantastic. As if I didn't have enough to deal with, now I have to find out that I'm overweight and depressed on top of everything else. How much effort did you have to go through to dig this up? It's all just to try and make me go on one of those weird fashinable diets, isn;t it? And here I was starting to think you didn't care about me anymore.

It's a good thing you're not in denial of your paranoia, because this would be one of those instances where I would point it out to you.

I hear the peanut and coffee bean diet could do wonders for ya, though.

[fable]

You know, considering how disciplined I am about losing weight, I'd chance the "overweight" part if I could only get the "35" part, as well. Being 57, trim, and wry apparently isn't allowed.

[Siberys]

Here I was guessing gamers were 13 with a social disorder and more zits than a hedgehog has needles.

But...it's good to know that a 35 year old, fat and depressed man decided to blame everyone else for his problems in the disguise of a "Survey."

[Xandax]

Hey - I'm only 32 going on 33. That survey is soooo wrong
Ahh - it was only in the US

[C Elegans]

Good you have me then, the board shrink who is female, not overweight and not even a gamer

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Elegans Good you have me then, the board shrink who is female, not overweight and not even a gamer

Isn't Diablo 2 considered a game?

[galraen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xandax Ahh - it was only in the US

It's only in a very small part of the US! Do these people actually get paid for this sort of unscientific, meaningless garbage, shoot I bet they're about 35, over-weight and have mental problems!

Sorry I don't fit, I'm even older than Fable (yes, it is possible) weight's fine for my age and height, and whilst many people on GB probably think I have mental problems, being short on 'extraversion' (did they make that word up?) isn't one they'd probably pin on me. I guess I'll have to stop playing games, I'm obviously not suited!

[Nightmare]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siberys Here I was guessing gamers were 13 with a social disorder and more zits than a hedgehog has needles.

If I absorbed said 13 year old's mass and age, I would fit the profile. As such absorption isn't quite possible (or legal), I guess I'm still good then.

[jklinders]

I'm not fat because I play video games(played 'em long before I got fat). I'm fat 'cause I'm lazy and eat too much. I would be interested to see what kind of bias this study was approuched with, you know with 552 being such a large sample after all.

[Sain]

Aern't more than a few gamers younger than 19. Add them to the average and torch this "study"

[Loki[D.d.G]]

I don't fit into that characterization either. Quite the opposite actually... a lil' grey on the depressed part though.

[fable]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loki[D.d.G] I don't fit into that characterization either. Quite the opposite actually... a lil' grey on the depressed part though.

Truthfully, I think everybody is mildly depressed at least once each week. What they mean by depressed is I suspect where it becomes a major feature of one's personality: clinical depression, in other words. Typically that's associated with very isolated individuals, and one class that tends to be isolated is those who spend an inordinate amount of time doing nothing but computer gaming. Fact, not opinion.

On the other hand, the computer has been a fantastic tool in assisting to relieve clinical depression caused by isolated communities. North Dakota in the US, for example, once had sky high suicide rates in the winter months: "All those farmers out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow," my station manager told me when I worked up in Fargo/Moorhead. I understand that number has gone significantly down, thanks to online communities. So it isn't a case of to game, or not to game, but rather, how one interacts, and how much.

[Dottie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xandax Hey - I'm only 32 going on 33. That survey is soooo wrong

I'm going to make a wild guess and assume that this was a comment on the meaning of the word average. In addition one could mention that the article doesn't say the average gamer is overweight and depressed but rather that they on a group level differs a bit from non gamers.

@Loki: Apparently Diablo 2 is some kind of "self medication"