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Time Spent Gaming and Social Competence in Children: Reciprocal Effects Across Childhood
Author(s) -
Hygen Beate W.,
Belsky Jay,
Stenseng Frode,
Skalicka Vera,
Kvande Marianne N.,
ZahlThanem Tonje,
Wichstrøm Lars
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13243
Subject(s) - norwegian , psychology , developmental psychology , social competence , socioeconomic status , competence (human resources) , social change , social psychology , demography , population , philosophy , linguistics , economics , economic growth , sociology
Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investigate whether the quantity of time children spend on gaming is related to their social development, making this the first study to examine this relationship in children. We examine prospective relations between time spent gaming and social competence in a community sample of Norwegian 6 year olds ( n = 873) followed up at ages 8, 10, and 12, controlling for socioeconomic status, body mass index, and time spent gaming together with friends. Results revealed that greater social competence at both 8 and 10 years predicted less gaming 2 years later and that more age‐10 gaming predicted less social competence at age 12 but only among girls.