Smoking in Video Games: A Systematic Review

Conclusions: Research on how playing video games influences adolescents’ perceptions of smoking and smoking behaviors is still in its nascence. Further research is needed to understand how adolescents respond to viewing and manipulating tobacco imagery, and whether engaging in game smoking translates into changes in real-world attitudes or behavior. Smoking imagery in video games may contribute to normalizing adolescent smoking. Implications: A large body of research has shown that smoking imagery in a variety of media types contributes to adolescent smoking uptake and the normalization of smoking behavior, and almost 90% of adolescents play video games, yet there has never been a published systematic review of the literature on this important topic. This is the first systematic review to examine the research on tobacco and video games. We found that tobacco imagery is indeed present in video games, the relationship between video game playing and smoking remains unclear, there appears to be a correlation between problem gaming and smoking and the genre of games may play a role in adolescent smoking behavior.
Source: Nicotine and Tobacco Research - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research