Electronic Games and Children’s Cognitive and Noncognitive Development in Early Childhood

Abstract

There has been increasing concern that the prevalence of electronic games may be harmful to young children. Using longitudinal data from the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), this paper examines the impact of playing electronic games on both cognitive and noncognitive skills among children aged between three and five - a crucial period when important human capital development takes place. The survey provides a useful setting before smartphones and tablets became ubiquitous in homes, while electronic games essentially resemble those popular today. Two instrumental variable approaches are employed to address the endogenous relationship between children's skill development and game activity. The first primarily exploits variation of a mother's computer use at home. The second is Lewbel’s method utilising the heteroscedasticity of children’s game behaviours. Results demonstrate no evidence of a detrimental impact of playing electronic games but some positive effects, especially on cognitive development. The positive effect on cognition is larger for boys, whereas girls benefit more from reduced internalization problems concerning emotion and peer issues. Also, little evidence is found that playing electronic games displaces or disincentivizes other activities such as attending a sports club, watching TV and playing with friends.