Boy's with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spent nearly twice as long playing video games than children with typical development.
A study concluded boys suffering from ADHD or autism between the ages of eight and 18 spent an average of 2.1 hours playing video games, boys without the disorders spent about 1.7 hours daily, MedPage Today reported.
Children and teens diagnosed with the disorders were more likely to have access to video games in their own bedrooms, and had a higher rate of gaming addictions.
"These results shed light into potential associated features of problematic game use and are consistent with previous studies linking impulsivity and inattention with problematic video game use," the authors said.
Children with ADHD or autism often suffer from "impulse control and response inhibition problems."
The study compared the video game use of 56 boys with autism, 44 boys with ADHD, and 41 with typical development. The study participants were mostly white, had a household income of at least $40,000, had two siblings, and married parents.
Parents were asked how long their children spent playing video games, whether they had a console in their rooms, and what their top three favorite games were.
The boy's with autism spectrum disorder spent significantly more time playing than the other participants, while those with ADHD spent more time than the boys with typical development but with not as great of a gap.
The researchers also compared video game habits and mental disorder with problematic gaming behavior, Daily RX reported.
Problematic gaming behavior was characterized as "being unable to stop playing, becoming irritable or aggressive if someone interrupts playing, having grades suffer because of playing, losing sleep and similar problems."
The more the participants suffered inattention disorders, the more prevalent their problematic gaming behavior became.
The autistic boys who preferred role playing games were most likely to exhibit this behavior.
There were some limits to the study.
"The study was limited by parental report and lack of diagnostic confirmation. Also, causal conclusions cannot be drawn from the current findings. Longitudinal studies are needed to extend this research and to examine the long-term effects of screen-based media use in children with [autism spectrum disorder]," the authors said, according to MedPage today.
