Video gaming can be problematic in a few

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The vast majority of teens play video games with no ill effects but video games can be problematic for a small percentage of players, U.S. researchers say.

Rani Desai and colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., surveyed 4,028 adolescents about their gaming, problems and health behaviors.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found of the 51.2 percent of the teens who played video games -- 76.3 percent of boys and 29.2 percent of girls -- there were no negative health effects of gaming in boys, but gaming was linked with getting into serious fights and carrying a weapon to school among girls.

However, among 5.8 percent of boys and 3 percent of girls gaming was linked to regular cigarette smoking, drug use, depression and serious fights.

"The results suggest that in general recreational gaming is relatively harmless, particularly in boys. This is in contrast to many previously publicized reports suggesting that gaming leads to aggression," Desai says in a statement. "However, the gender differences observed between gamers and non-gamers suggest that girls may be gaming for different reasons than boys."