青少年过度沉溺电子游戏有何影响？

　　俄亥俄州的一个电子游戏玩家在本周险些命丧黄泉，该男孩今年15岁，晕倒前曾连续五天通宵达旦玩游戏《现代战争3之使命召唤》。据8月7日WCMH电台报道，这个来自哥伦布的男孩因为严重脱水被火速送往医院抢救，之后得到康复。

　　过度沉溺于网络世界的玩家可能会遭遇各种健康危害：从深静脉血栓形成，血栓到严重脱水等。例如，7月3日，一名台湾籍青少年被发现猝死家中，死前曾坐在一家网络咖啡屋中连续玩黑暗破坏神3长达40个小时。据当时的医生推断，该男孩死于心脏病，是游戏期间形成的血栓诱发的。

　　另外，去年夏天，香港一名二十岁男性在其游戏机前打了12个小时游戏后因为诱发血栓而死亡。其父亲告诉太阳报记者，“他为游戏而生。可是我却从没想到过他有任何的危险。”

　　虽然以上都是个别极端案列，但是他们给了广大群众一个提醒：无论是因为《现代战争》还是为了工作在电脑或游戏机前坐数日对于每个人的健康都是不利的。然而研究视频游戏与孩子关系的心理学家们却告诉父母们对无需担心孩子们打游戏的时间过长，除非这个事情开始对学业有消极影响，甚至导致了社会悲剧。（当然了，长时间的游戏有可能对学业造成负面影响甚至导致社会悲剧。）换句话说，研究者们仍然更多地关心视频游戏中暴力内容的影响，在很多研究中已经将此与青少年的攻击行为联系起来。

　　过多的时间打游戏？

　　最近，由凯撒家庭基金会组织的一项2010年调查报告显示，青少年每周花费50小时玩一种或另一种游戏。“这相当于一份全职工作外加十个小时的加班，这还仅仅是平均数”，道格拉斯。金泰尔如此说道，他是爱荷华州立大学媒体研究实验室的心理学家兼主任。

　　凯撒调查发现青少年要每周要花费九个小时打游戏，而同一时期为金泰尔做的一项哈里斯民意调查却发现每周在电脑前和游戏机前打游戏的时间是13个小时。

　　有的孩子们花好几个小时玩《赶尽杀绝》，而对于其他的孩子而言，花太多时间玩游戏则会导致学业受影响，最近的研究显示打游戏代替了很多课后学习活动，例如家庭作业和课外阅读，最终将因果关联起来了。俄亥俄州丹尼森大学研究者们的一项2010年的调查对比两组从未接触游戏的男孩子，该调查发表在心理科学杂志上。研究者们立刻给第一组男孩游戏，而暂缓了四个月才给第二组。结果据老师报道，率先得到游戏的男孩在学习上遇到很多问题，阅读和写作的得分比另一组低很多。对于家长而言，学习的问题相对而言比较好解决：控制游戏时间就可以，因为你可以直接从他或她的手中拿走遥控器。 美国小儿科医学会给出建议：每天打任何电子游戏的时间不得超过一个到两个小时。

　　暴力游戏与侵略行为：

　　视频游戏更难掌控的部分是其暴力成分。2008年，据皮尤研究中心报道，适于十岁及以上儿童的游戏中，百分之九十都包含有暴力内容，适于所有人群的级别为E的游戏也是如此。（大多数研究员认为游戏中玩家故意伤害他人的行为称之为暴力。）然而，现在大多数的研究员将会认同游戏有害也能益智的观点。比如，教育类游戏可以帮助学习，而动作游戏则能提高孩子们的视觉与空间技能。而且视频游戏也能成功地教会孩子们应对哮喘与糖尿病自我护理的技巧。

　　而且人们玩游戏的主要原因是为了放松。金泰尔认为忽闪忽现的屏幕和变幻莫测的声音能触动大脑的原始反应。他说，“我认为电视和视频游戏能让人们放松的原因之一是他们能让我们集中注意力。它迫使你适应媒体，但你无需像上课听讲一样专注。

　　然而大部分证据都显示了暴力视频游戏与青少年侵略行为上升趋势的联系。他们的行为不同于校园枪杀案那样的犯罪行为，而是一些小规模的伤害和侮辱，如，嘲弄，谩骂，传播谣言甚至拳脚相向。2010年，爱荷华州立大学研究者们针对130名儿童和青少年做了一项调查，其结果发表于心理学公报，该结果显示暴力视频游戏提高了攻击行为和同情心降低的可能性。

　　哪些青少年容易受影响？

　　在任何一种环境下，长时间暴露于暴力中肯定是有负面影响的。金泰尔这样写道：“在任何地方看见暴力都会增加儿童可能卷入攻击行为的可能性，无论是行凶者还是受害者。”而且视频游戏是非常有效的老师。玩家得到立刻反馈而且会因为惩罚竞争对手而得到报酬。调查显示，游戏给敌对战争者报酬，同时也训练人们的大脑以攻击行为反馈现实中的问题。

　　事实上，游戏让青少年遇到任何小的麻烦都以谩骂让事情变得更糟糕，而不是选择避免冲突。因此当我在走道里颠簸，而不再认为是一场事故，首先映入我脑海的是以某种方式报复。虽然那些并不是你的唯一选择，但是我们从未想过选择其他方式，因为我们在媒体上一遍又一遍看到的是，“你杀死了我的魔兽，现在你必须死掉。”

　　但是心理学家帕特里克。马基的研究认为只有部分青少年容易受影响。马基发现具有某种人格特征的人对游戏非常敏感，不太和蔼，不太谨慎，他们更容易因为游戏变得暴力。这项2010年调查结果发表在普通心理学评论上。

　　马基是宾夕法尼亚州维拉诺瓦大学的教授，他说道，“事情的真相是多数人有能力处理这种媒介，但是对于某些具有选择性倾向的人而言，他们会稍微有些容易好斗，更容易到处与人争论。”

　　他还说道“最有趣的部分是尚未有调查显示视频游戏的影响不同于电视或电影。之前的经验也未曾显示这点。任何媒介都从情感的角度来吸引我们，而视频游戏只是一种媒介而已，甚至可以说是一种艺术。”

　　译文：

　　The gamer community had a near-miss this week in Ohio, when a 15-year-old boy collapsed after playing "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" for up to five days straight.

　　The Columbus teen was rushed to the hospital with severe dehydration, where he recovered, according to a report from TV station WCMH on Aug. 7.

　　Players who delve too deeply into their electronic worlds can face various health risks, ranging from deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots, to severe dehydration.

　　For instance, in July, a Taiwanese teenager was found dead after sitting for 40 hours in an Internet cafe playing "Diablo 3." At the time, doctors speculated he died from a heart attack caused by a blood clot that formed during the long session.

　　And last summer, a 20-year-old man from the U.K. died from a blood clot after spending 12-hour sessions on his Xbox. His father told "The Sun" newspaper, "He lived for his Xbox. I never dreamed he was in any danger." [10 Easy Paths to Self Destruction]

　　While these are extreme cases, they are a reminder that sitting at a computer or console for days, whether it's for "World of Warcraft" or for work, isn't healthy for anyone. But psychologists who study video games and kids say parents needn't worry about the amount of time spent gaming, unless screen time starts to affect school, health or social life. （And, of course, a stint of tens of hours gaming is likely to negatively affect schoolwork and lead to social woes.） That said, researchers remain concerned about the effects of violent content in video games, which have been linked by many studies to aggressive behavior.

　　Too much screen time?

　　These days, screens of one kind or another occupy youth for 50 hours a week, a 2010 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation reports. "It's a full-time job plus 10 hours of overtime, and that's the average," said Douglas Gentile, a psychologist and director of the Media Research Lab at Iowa State University.

　　Video-gaming consumed nine weekly hours for teens, the Kaiser survey found, while a Harris Poll conducted for Gentile during the same period reported 13 hours a week spent gaming on computers and consoles.

　　While some kids can shoot 'em up for hours, for others, too much time gaming leads to poor school performance. Recent studies have finally linked the cause and effect, showing that gaming displaces after-school academic activities such as homework and reading. A 2010 study from researchers at Denison University in Ohio, published in the journal Psychological Science, compared two groups of boys that had never owned gaming systems. They gave one group a system right away, but withheld games from the other group for four months. Boys who received the video-game system first had more teacher-reported learning problems and significantly lower reading and writing scores than the other boys.

　　Problems in school are relatively easy for parents to fix: Limit screen time — of course, if you can get the controller out of his or her hands. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours per day in front of any electronics.

　　Violent games and aggression：

　　What's harder to control is violent content in video games. The Pew Research Center reported in 2008 that more than 90 percent of games rated as appropriate for children 10 years or older contained violence, including games rated "E" for everyone. （Most researchers define violence as the ability of a player to intentionally harm others in a game.）Now most researchers will agree that video games can help as well as harm. For example, educational games boost learning, and action games can improve vision and spatial skills. Video games have also been used successfully to teach children self-care skills for asthma and diabetes.

　　And then there's the primary reason people play video games: They're relaxing. Gentile thinks the flickering screen and varying sound levels trigger a primitive brain response. "One of the reasons I think we find television and video games so relaxing is they provide the attention for you. It forces you to orient to the media. You don't have to work to pay attention like you do in [a] classroom lecture," said Gentile.

　　But a preponderance of evidence links violent video games to an increase in aggressive behavior in teens. The behavior wasn't violent crime, like school shootings, but small yet hurtful offenses like teasing, name-calling, rumor-spreading and fist fights. In a review of 130 studies of kids and teens, Iowa State University researchers found that violent video games increased the likelihood of aggression and decreased empathy. The meta-analysis appeared in 2010 in the journal Psychological Bulletin. [5 Ways to Foster Self-Compassion in Your Teen]

　　Which teens are vulnerable?

　　Of course, repeated exposure to violence in any environment has a deleterious effect, Gentile noted. "Seeing violence anywhere increases the risks that a child might become involved in aggression, whether as a perpetrator or a victim," he said. But video games are phenomenal teachers. Players get immediate feedback and rewards for punishing competitors. And not only do games reward hostility, they train your brain to respond to real-life problems with aggression, research indicates.

　　In fact, games can prime teens to react to slights with name-calling or pushing, instead of choosing to avoid confrontation. "So when I get bumped in the hallway, I don't assume it's an accident anymore," explained Gentile. "What comes to mind first is to retaliate in some way. Those aren't the only options you have, but we never think of them because what we see over and over in the media is 'You killed my monster, now you must die.'"But psychologist Patrick Markey's research suggests just some teens are susceptible to these effects. Markey found people withcertain personality traits — those who are highly neurotic, less agreeable and less conscientious — are those more likely to become hostile from gaming. The 2010 study appeared in the journal Review of General Psychology.

　　"The truth of the matter is that most people can handle this media, but for some people with a select predisposition, these people might be a little more aggressive, more prone to an argument here and there," said Markey, a professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

　　"The most interesting part is there is really no research that suggests video games have a different effect than TV or movies. It has empirically never been shown," said Markey. "Any media is supposed to engage us emotionally, and video games are a form of media, a form of art even."