"Anecdotally, I’ve heard people hypothesize that video game play or technology use may be a social outlet for ASD children, but we found that kids with autism are using a lot less of those social media and social video games than their typically developing siblings," Dr. Mazurek said. "It does seem to be more of an isolated experience for them."
Among the 169 boys who were assessed for problem behaviors associated with video game play, 52.7% had autistic disorder, 28.4% had Asperger’s disorder, and 18.9% had PDD NOS. The parents of these boys filled out additional questionnaires about the video game genres their children most often played and the boys’ symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositional defiant behaviors as assessed through the Vanderbilt Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Patient Rating Scale (VADPRS).
The three most popular game genres were action (this genre was ranked by 16% of parents as their child’s first preference, and by 31% of parents as one of their child’s top three preferences), platform (14% ranked it first and 25% ranked it in the top three), and shooter (13% ranked it first and 21% ranked it in the top three). The researchers found statistically significant associations only between the children’s VADPRS scores and the role-playing and shooter games. Role playing was ranked first by 9% of the parents as their child’s primary game and was ranked in the top three by 20% of parents.
Hours per day spent playing games was not associated with any of the problem behaviors (inattention, hyperactivity, or oppositional defiant behavior). "Rather, the most reliable predictors of problem behaviors were shown to be video game genre and problematic, or addictive, qualities of play," the investigators wrote. The number of daily hours spent playing video games was positively and significantly associated with PVGT scores, especially among boys playing shooter or role-playing games.
PVGT scores were positively associated with inattention and oppositional defiant behavior, but not hyperactivity/impulsivity – a surprising finding, Dr. Mazurek said, because other studies have found correlations with impulsivity. No association was found for predicting inattention based on age, video game hours, or video game genre. Oppositional defiant behavior was predicted for role-playing genres, but not age, video game hours, or shooter games.
"Given their tendency to engage in restricted and repetitive patterns of activity, children with ASD may be at particular risk for developing problematic, or addictive, game play patterns," the researchers wrote.
However, the attraction of video games could serve therapeutic purposes as well. "I would encourage parents not to let their kids have free rein to play games as much as they want," Dr. Mazurek said. "If we’re going to capitalize on this interest in technology in therapeutic ways, we need to do that alongside face-to-face interactions."
The authors noted that the cross-sectional design of the video game behaviors study precludes conclusions about causality. "It is possible that children with pre-existing behavior problems are more inclined to play video games for longer periods of time and in a more intense manner," they wrote, or video game play patterns could influence problem behavior, or the problems could be bidirectional.
Both studies were internally funded, and the authors had no disclosures.