Video games can boost children's intelligence — as shown by research

An international group of scientists has reached an unexpected conclusion: children who spend more time playing video games demonstrate a small but noticeable increase in IQ. This contradicts the common belief that video games are harmful to child development.

Scientists from Sweden and the United States conducted a large study to answer this question. It involved nearly 10,000 American children aged 9–10. Two years later, intelligence levels were re-measured in a portion of them to understand how they had changed.

Researchers divided screen time into three main categories: watching videos, communicating through digital platforms, and playing video games. They examined how much time children spent on each of these activities and correlated it with their intellectual performance at ages 9–10 and again at ages 11–12.

Importantly, the study accounted for what is often overlooked—genetic differences among children and the conditions in which they grow up. This helped more accurately determine how exactly screen time is related to intellectual development, rather than confusing cause and effect.

What the results showed

In the first stage, children who spent more time watching videos or using social networks had slightly lower intelligence levels. Video games did not show a significant impact at this stage.

Two years later, the situation had changed. Those children who spent more time playing video games showed the greatest increase in intelligence scores. This effect remained positive even after accounting for other factors such as genetics and the family’s socio-economic status.

Children who watched a lot of videos also showed a slight improvement in intelligence. However, this result proved less robust: when scientists separately accounted for parents’ education levels, the effect of video watching became insignificant.

Meanwhile, time spent on digital communication had no impact on changes in intelligence. It brought neither benefit nor harm.

The main conclusion is that video games can positively influence children’s intellectual development. This confirms findings from other studies: games enhance attention, memory, and information processing speed. Moreover, they require players to make decisions, remember information, and adapt to new tasks—all of which are important for mental development.

The positive effect of video watching was unexpected, as such activities were previously considered more harmful to development. Perhaps the reason is that modern children watch not only entertainment content but also educational videos that can aid learning. However, this conclusion cannot yet be considered definitive, as it proved sensitive to other factors, such as parents’ education levels.

The study also showed that:

— intelligence levels at the start of the study were associated with family social status and genetics
— however, over the two years, these factors had little influence on how intelligence changed
— boys played video games more often, while girls used social networks more frequently, but the impact on intelligence did not differ by gender
— scientists found no link between screen time and personal traits such as perseverance.

Conclusion

This study shows that not all screen time is equal. Video games can contribute to mental development, especially when considering individual characteristics of children. In contrast, time spent on social networks provides no benefit in this regard. As for video watching, its impact remains unclear and requires further research.

The main lesson for parents is that it is important not only to monitor the amount of time spent in front of screens but also to pay attention to what children are actually doing. Meaningful and active use of digital technologies may not hinder development but can even support it.

The full results of the study were published in the journal Scientific Reports.