Even its most staunch defenders will recognize that video games have a hooking capacity that can become a serious problem. According to a new study published in the journal Sleep , most gamers sacrifice hours of night's rest to control the console or the computer keyboard, behavior that can also be a symptom of addiction .
Brandy Roane, director of the Sleep Study Laboratory at the University of North Texas and the main author of the work, puts a concrete (and high) figure on this late-night trend: " our data indicates that 67% of video games sometimes delay bedtime . "
To reach these conclusions, the experts surveyed 963 young Americans, with an average age of 29, who practiced their hobby of digital entertainment about five nights a week, so they could be considered "gamers" in every rule .
Their responses revealed that 36% of those nights were up late, and that the delay in falling asleep was estimated, on average, at 101 minutes .
Although the research does not strictly prove that playing late at night means addiction, it does suggest that there could be a link between the two behaviors . The work has just been presented at an annual meeting of sleep professionals held in the North American city of Denver.
