1-in-12 gamers addicted says Australian report

A new study by the University of Sydney claims that one in 12 videogames players are addicted.

The study used an online poll of less than 2000 gamers from around the world and questioned participants on how often they played and whether they experienced side effects such as reduced performance at school or work, interrupted sleep, weight change and carpel tunnel syndrome.

Speaking to website Television New Zealand, associate professor Vladan Starcevic suggested that a "minority" of 8 per cent fit the study's profile of a "problem gamer". Of these, 70 per cent admitted to playing for more than four hours a day.

"Their whole lives revolve around this activity and there certainly seems to be a problem there - there is an addiction," said Starcevic. "And it seems to us that these people seem to ... have other mental health issues, and it seems excessive videogame playing is a manifestation of these underlying problems."

The study found that "problem gamers" were more likely to be socially isolated, have a higher risk of depression and be prone to compulsive behaviour. The most popular style of game for this group tended to be open-ended titles such as World of WarCraft.

Starcevic also admitted that the findings showed that 92 per cent of gamers enjoyed playing games without any problems. "Most people who play video games are not problem video game players, to put it in simple terms, they're not addicted to video games," he said.