Video Games Can Help Daughters Bond With Dads

While playing video games isn’t the healthiest way for kids to entertain themselves these days, a new study reveals they may help girls bond better with their fathers.

Researchers from Brigham Young University's School of Family Life conducted a study on video games and children ages 11 to 16 and found girls who played video games with a parent benefited in a number of surprising ways: they behaved better, felt more connected to their families and had stronger mental health.

"The surprising part about this for me is that girls don't play video games as much as boys," said Professor Sarah Coyne, lead author of the study. "But they did spend about the same amount of time co-playing with a parent as boys did."

Coyne and her collogues studied 287 families with an adolescent child. They found Mario Kart, Mario Brothers, Wii Sports, Rock Band and Guitar Hero topped the list of games played most often by girls. Call of Duty, Wii Sports and Halo ranked first, second, and third among boys.

For boys, playing with a parent was not a statistically significant factor for any of the outcomes the researchers measured (positive behavior, aggression, family connection, mental health), yet for girls, playing video games with a parent accounted for as much as 20 percent of the variation on those measured outcomes.

Study co-author Laura Padilla-Walker offers possible explanations for what's behind the gender differences.

"We're guessing it's a daddy-daughter thing, because not a lot of moms said yes when we asked them if they played video games," Padilla-Walker said. "Co-playing is probably an indicator of larger levels of involvement."

It's also possible that the time boys play video games with parents doesn't stand out as much because they spend far more time playing with friends.

The researchers plan to explore the basis of these gender differences in more detail as they continue working on this project.

Age-appropriate 

The findings come with one important caveat, however: the games daughters play with their fathers have to be age-appropriate to be beneficial. In fact, if the game was rated M for mature, it weakened the statistical relationship between co-playing and family connectedness.

The researchers also note the findings are also not an excuse to spend hours playing video games every day in the name of strengthening the family bond.

"If you spend huge amounts of time absorbed in any activity, it's going to affect your relationships," Padilla-Walker said.

Still, these findings might give some hope to fathers who are at a loss on how to spend quality time with their teenage daughter.

As for dads who hate video games -- and there might be a few out there -- all hope isn’t lost.

According to Padilla-Walker, any face-to-face time parents have with their child can be a positive thing, especially if the activity is something the child is interested in.

The study appears February 1 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.