Video game play and anxiety during late adolescence: The moderating effects of gender and social context

•Adolescent girls reported higher levels of anxiety than did adolescent boys.•Adolescent boys who played video games the most had the lowest levels of anxiety.•Adolescent girls who played video games the most had the highest levels of anxiety.•The social context moderated the relationship between video game play and anxiety.

BackgroundFew studies have examined factors that moderate the relationship between playing video games and adolescent psychological adjustment. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to examine the relationship between playing video games and anxiety symptomatology in a sample of 441 11th and 12th grade students, while considering both gender and the social context (whether they played alone or with others).MethodsParticipants (66% non-Hispanic White) were administered a survey (including measures of technology use and anxiety symptomatology) in school at baseline and one year later.ResultsBoth gender and the social context moderated the relationship between playing video games and anxiety symptomatology. Boys who played video games the most had the lowest levels of anxiety, whereas girls who played video games the most had the highest levels of anxiety. This relationship was exacerbated in the context of playing with others.LimitationsAlthough the study has a number of strengths including the longitudinal design and the diverse sample, the study relied on self-report data. In addition, the sample was limited to adolescents residing in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Therefore, caution should be taken in regard to generalizing the results.ConclusionsFindings from this study underscore the need to consider both gender and the social context when examining the relationship between playing video games and adolescent psychological adjustment.