Mar 31, 2015 01:24 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Despite common belief, there is no link between playing violent video games and real-life aggression or a child's academic performance, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that the time spent playing video games, not the games played, effected children's behavior. Their findings suggest that children who play video games for more than three hours a day are more likely to be hyperactive, get involved in fights and not be interested in school, says a new study.

"We can see links between some types of games and children's behavior, as well as time spent playing. However, we cannot say that game play causes good or bad behavior. We also know that the risks attached to game-playing are small,"Dr. Andy Przybylski, lead author of the study, said in a statement. "A range of other factors in a child's life will influence their behavior more as this research suggests that playing electronic games may be a statistically significant but minor factor in how children progress academically or in their emotional wellbeing."

For the study, researchers relied on teachers' assessments of behavior of individual pupils at a school in the southeast of England -- instead of relying solely on data from the young people. Teachers reported whether the 200 pupils in the study group were helpful, their academic achievements, and whether they were rowdy or likely to get into fights .The pupils involved in the study were numbered so their personal identities were not revealed to the researchers. These assessments were matched with the responses to a questionnaire that asked each of the pupils in the study, who were aged 12-13 years old, how long they played games each day and the type of games they preferred. The choice given was to play solo, offline competitive team games, online cooperative and competitive games, combat and violence, puzzles and strategy, and games to do with sport and racing.

Researchers also found that low levels of play --under an hour a day -- might actually benefit behavior.

The findings are detailed in the journal, Psychology of Popular Media Culture

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