Syracuse University announced today that Joshua Smyth, associate professor of psychology in The College of Arts and Sciences, recently conducted a trial study of college students comparing the effects of playing socially interconnected online video games with single-player games. Interestingly, the results indicated that online games have greater chance for both negative and positive consequences on a physical, educational and interpersonal level. The results will be published in the October 2007 issue of the peer-reviewed journal CyberPsychology & Behavior.

"The most striking result of this study is that playing online multiplayer games had much greater positive and negative effects on people than playing traditional single-player video games," says Smyth. "Students in the study who played online multiplayer games did so about three times as much as those playing single-player game types, averaging over 14 hours a week."

"Video game play does interfere in some aspects of real-life—such as academic performance, health and social life—but game play can also foster strong feelings of virtual support and new friendships," Smyth added.