More Than a Just a Game: Video Game and Internet Use During Emerging Adulthood
Video games, Internet use, Emerging adults
The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer understanding of the pattern of video game and internet use among college students and to examine how electronic leisure was related to risk behaviors (i.e., drinking, drug use, sex), perceptions of the self (i.e., self worth and social acceptance), and relationships with others (i.e., relationship quality with parents and friends). Participants included 813 undergraduate students (500 young women, 313 young men, Mage = 20, SD = 1.87) who were mainly European American (79%), unmarried (100%) and living outside their parents’ home (90%). Results suggested that (a) video game use was linked to negative outcomes for men and women, (b) different patterns of video game and internet use existed for men and women and (c) there were different relations to risk behaviors, feelings about the self, and relationship quality based on the type of internet use, and based on gender. The discussion focuses on the implications of electronic leisure on the overall health and development of young people as they transition to adulthood.
Original Publication Citation
Padilla-Walker, L. M., Nelson, L. J., Carroll, J. S., & Jensen, A. C. (2010). More than just a game: Video game and internet use during emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 103-113. doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9390-8
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Padilla-Walker, Laura M.; Nelson, Larry J.; Carroll, Jason S.; and Jensen, Alexander C., "More Than a Just a Game: Video Game and Internet Use During Emerging Adulthood" (2010). Faculty Publications. 2660.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Received: 2 October 2008 / Accepted: 29 December 2008 / Published online: 10 January 2009 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009