Video Game Use, Aggression, and Social Impairment in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This study looked at video game use in autistic teenagers. Parents reported their autistic teens were more likely to play video games and spent more time gaming than other teenagers. Playing video games itself wasn't linked to more aggression or social problems. However, when autistic teens played games 'more than average,' parents reported higher levels of aggression and some social difficulties.

This study examined video game use patterns and their relationship with aggression and social functioning in autistic adolescents using parent-reported data. Parents reported that autistic adolescents were more likely to play video games as a hobby and spent more time gaming compared to typically developing peers. While there were no differences in aggression or social impairment between autistic gamers and non-gamers, excessive gaming (more than average) was associated with increased aggression and greater social difficulties in awareness and mannerisms. The findings suggest that the amount of gaming, rather than gaming itself, may be relevant to behavioral outcomes in autistic adolescents.

Clinicians should assess gaming patterns rather than gaming presence alone. Excessive gaming may warrant intervention for aggression and social awareness difficulties. Focus should be on gaming duration and potentially game content. Moderate gaming may not be inherently problematic for autistic adolescents.

Study relies solely on parent-reported data without objective measures. Sample size not reported. Cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences. No specification of video game types or content. Lacks standardized measures for defining 'average' versus 'more than average' gaming time.

We used parent report data to investigate video game playing, aggression, and social impairment in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Parents of autistic adolescents were more likely to report that their child plays video games as a hobby compared to parents of adolescents with typical development and also reported that their children spent more time playing video games. For autistic participants, we found no differences in aggression levels or social impairment when comparing players versus non-players. However, playing video games "more than average," as compared to "average" was associated with greater aggression and greater social impairment on "awareness" and "mannerisms" subscales.

Future studies should focus on how type of video game(s) played is associated with these clinically important variables.