Aug 04, 2014 12:39 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Playing video games for less than an hour a day may be linked with better-adjusted children and teenagers, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Oxford University in the United Kingdom found that young people who indulged in a little video game-playing were associated with being better adjusted than those who had never played or those who were on video games for three hours or more. They found no positive or negative effects for young people who played "moderately" between one to three hours a day.

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from nearly 5,000 young people drawn from a nationally representative study of United Kingdom households. Participants, between 10 and 15 years old, were asked how much time they typically spent on console-based or computer-based games. The same group also answered questions about how satisfied they were with their lives, their levels of hyperactivity and inattention; empathy; and how they got on with their peers.

They found that those who spent more than half their daily free time playing electronic games were not as well adjusted. It speculates that this could be because they miss out on other enriching activities and possibly expose themselves to inappropriate content designed for adults. Meanwhile, when compared to non-players and those who played very frequently, those who played video games for less than an hour, were associated with the highest levels of sociability and were most likely to say they were satisfied with their lives. They also appeared to have fewer friendship and emotional problems, and reported less hyperactivity than the other groups.

However, the study, published in the journal, Pediatrics, suggests that the influence of video games on children, for good or for ill, is very small when compared with more "enduring" factors, such as whether the child is from a functioning family, their school relationships, and whether they are materially deprived.

"These results support recent laboratory-based experiments that have identified the downsides to playing electronic games. However, high levels of video game-playing appear to be only weakly linked to children's behavioral problems in the real world," study author Andrew Przybylski said in a statement. "Likewise, the small, positive effects we observed for low levels of play on electronic games do not support the idea that video games on their own can help children develop in an increasingly digital world."

Researchers said more studies need to be carried out to look closely at the specific attributes of games that make them beneficial or harmful.

"It will also be important to identify how social environments such as family, peers, and the community shape how gaming influences young people," Przybylski said.

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