Aug 18, 2014 12:32 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Children who play violent video games are more likely to develop depression, according to a recent study.

While previous studies focus on the link between violent video game playing and aggression among youths, American researchers recently found that there are significantly increased signs of depression among preteens with high daily exposure to violent video games.

"One of the strengths of this study is its large and ethnically diverse sample," researchers wrote in the study.

For the study, the research team recorded significantly more depressive symptoms over the course of a year among fifth-graders from three cities in the United States who reported playing high-violence video games for two or more hours a day, compared to those who reported playing low-violence video games for less than two hours a day.

This association was consistent across all racial and ethnic subgroups and among boys, according to researchers.

The recent findings were published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Previous studies have found that children and teenagers who play mature-rated, violent or risk-glorifying video games may be more likely to engage in a wide range of deviant behaviors, including alcohol use, smoking cigarettes, delinquency and risky sex.

However, another study 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.

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