Can active video games make a difference? Differences and similarities between active and passive video gamers regarding motivations, problematic gaming, and mental health among Hungarian secondary school students

Objective: This study explored the perceptions of video game players on the potential benefits of these games and on the factors associated with these perceptions. Materials and Methods: a sample of 2346 video game user secondary school students were surveyed (15.3±1.1 years old, n=187 females) and separated in two groups: passive (n=2222) and active-mixed video game players (n=124). The passive group consists of gamers using classic, sedentary video games, and for the active-mixed group members where real life motions needed during gameplay (e. g. Xbox Kinect). Extended sociodemographic data (e. g. questions regarding amount of friends and their videogame usage), video game usage habits (e. g. time, type of games), Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire (Demetrovics et al., 2012), General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg, 1972) were assessed. Results: Through the group comparison analyses, the overall differences between the active-mixed and the passive gamers are not as great as we supposed. Despite, in case of a few special aspects, such as life aspirations, extracurricular activities, being involved in sports, we found significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: Our study shows slight but significant psychosocial differences between the use of these two kinds of gameplay. These information can be used by parents, educators and other professionals for promoting active video games instead of the passive ones