A new study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia examines the relationship between parenting factors and gaming disorder in young children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study findings will be presented during the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 meeting, taking place April 24-27 in Boston.
Over 80% of American children play video games, and evidence is accumulating that a large portion engage in problematic gaming. Additionally, children with ADHD are at risk for problematic video game use. This study found that risk factors for problematic gaming included negative parenting behaviors, male gender, and older age. Negative parenting behaviors can be modified by parenting training programs. The relationship between gaming and parenting may also be bidirectional, with problematic gaming contributing to negative parenting. Parental involvement in gaming, increased access to consoles, and increased household limits on gaming were not associated with gaming disorder.
“We found that negative parental behaviors (such as arguing, punishing, and losing temper) are significantly associated with children meeting criteria for gaming addiction,” said Emily Wassmer, MD, a fellow physician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and lead author of the study.
We cannot determine a causal relationship from this data, but it is likely that the relationship is bidirectional, as parent behavior mediates child behavior. Parental behavior can be modified with evidence-based parent training programs, so such programs may be beneficial for caregivers of gamers whose gaming has reached problematic levels. These findings are a part of a larger study evaluating risk factors for video game addiction in young children (aged 5–12) with ADHD, a population at increased risk for addiction due to ADHD diagnosis, although underrepresented in gaming addiction research that focuses on adolescents.“
Emily Wasmer, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Recognizing the impact of video games on mental health, criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) were proposed in the DSM-5. These criteria have rarely been applied to clinical populations. There is limited research on video game use in children with ADHD, a group that is vulnerable to developing addiction. Existing research has focused on individual-level factors related to problematic gaming, and minimal attention has been paid to parenting factors, which may be helpful in identifying targets for behavioral interventions.
