Parents often frown upon their children sitting in front of a computer or TV screen for hours, some parents even worry that doing so can dull their children's minds.
But a new study suggests that playing video games for a little more than the average amount of time can help children improve their intelligence.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have studied how American children's screen habits relate to their developing cognitive abilities over time.
The study found that children who spent more than the average amount of time playing video games had higher intelligence than children who spent the average amount of time watching TV or social media had no positive or negative effect.
The results of this research conducted by the researchers have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. How this habit of spending more time in front of children's screens can affect their health and whether it has positive or negative effects on their cognitive abilities are hotly debated topics.
More than 9000 American boys and girls participated in this study. A number of psychological tests were administered to measure the mental abilities of nine- or ten-year-old children.
Children and their parents were asked how much time they spent watching TV, playing video games, and using social media.
Two years later, slightly more than 5,000 children who participated in the study were reassessed, asking them to repeat the same psychological tests. This allowed the researchers to analyze how children's performance on one test differed from another.