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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsA 2022 study found that U.S. children who reported more video game play at ages 9–10 showed greater gains on an intelligence measure over the following two years. It did not prove that gaming caused those gains: the researchers observed children’s existing habits rather than assigning them to play. The paper’s estimate of about 2.55 IQ points describes a statistical association, not a guaranteed boost for any child.
What the study measured
The paper, “The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background”, was published in Scientific Reports on May 11, 2022. It analyzed data from the U.S. Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The authors reported 9,855 children at baseline, when they were around ages 9–10, and assessed change about two years later. The paper gives different follow-up counts in different descriptions, so a single total should not be treated as the sample size for every analysis. A bibliographic record is available from PubMed.
Researchers compared children’s self-reported time spent watching, socializing, and gaming. Their intelligence measure combined results from five cognitive tasks, covering vocabulary, attention and inhibitory control, reading recognition, verbal learning, and visuospatial performance. Gaming included play on a computer, console, phone, tablet, or another device; the study did not examine a particular game, genre, platform, or accessory.
What it found about gaming and intelligence
In its main model, the paper found that more reported gaming time was associated with greater change in the intelligence measure over two years. The association remained after the researchers accounted for other screen activities, genetic cognitive propensity, socioeconomic status, age, study site, and population stratification. They reported a standardized coefficient of β = 0.17 (p = 0.002) for gaming.
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The authors translated that association to approximately 2.55 IQ points. This is a model-based estimate for a group-level association, not an experimentally measured increase and not a prediction of how much any individual child’s IQ will change. In a separate model that did not adjust for the other screen-activity categories, the gaming coefficient was β = 0.21 (p < 0.001). These figures come from different models and should not be combined.
At baseline, gaming time did not correlate with intelligence overall in the paper’s abstract. The reported finding concerned subsequent change, not evidence that children who game more start out more intelligent.
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How gaming compared with watching and socializing
The study did not find an independent association between socializing screen time and change in the intelligence measure. Watching had a positive association in the primary comparison, with β = 0.12 (p = 0.047), or about 1.8 IQ points in the authors’ translation. But that watching result was not statistically significant in a post hoc model that used parental education instead of the broader socioeconomic-status measure.
Those results do not show that all screen time improves intelligence, nor do they establish that gaming is a better intervention than watching or socializing. The activities were observed and self-reported, and the statistical associations do not show what would happen if a child deliberately changed their screen habits.
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Why the result does not prove video games raise IQ
This was a longitudinal observational analysis, not a randomized experiment. Children were not assigned to play a set amount of games, and the study cannot rule out other differences between children that help explain the gains. Statistical adjustments can account for measured factors, but they cannot turn an observed association into proof of cause and effect.
The sample was U.S. children around ages 9–10 at baseline. The findings do not automatically apply to children of every age or country, and they do not tell parents how many hours to allow, which games to choose, or whether to buy a console. An institutional summary from Karolinska Institutet described the result as children who played more at ten showing the largest average gains two years later, while also framing it as the researchers’ interpretation rather than a clinical or educational recommendation: Karolinska Institutet’s summary.
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What parents and players can reasonably take away
- The study found an association between reported gaming and later gains on a multi-task intelligence measure in one large U.S. child sample.
- Its approximately 2.55-point figure is the authors’ translation of an adjusted association, not a guaranteed IQ increase caused by gaming.
- The paper offers no recommended gaming duration and identifies no game or device as an intelligence booster.
- The finding is not evidence that parents should increase screen time or purchase gaming hardware.
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