Extracurricular Video Game Use and Academic Achievement: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

A good deal of research exists on the relationship between student use of video games outside the classroom and academic achievement. Our systematic review aims to identify what patterns exist across research conducted in the last 20 years. We examined 62 research studies that dealt with academic achievement and extracurricular video game use and found that most studies identify a negative association between the two. However, this isn’t the case for all students. We identified three important variables (the amount of time spent playing video games, the time of day or week spent playing, and the age of the students) that provide a clearer picture of the impact of gaming on academic achievement. Overall, the research we reviewed shows that the more students play, the greater the negative impact; students who play before or after school on weekdays tend to perform worse, and that these effects are greater on adolescent students than adult students. We also identified areas where more research is needed, and provide suggestions for future quantitative research studies.