Agreed. How about they track this over a decade? Where is there any correlation between the player, their personal view of themselves and whether they feel like they get bullied by their peers? In other words, were these people considered "balanced", generally optimistic people who get along with others well or were they loners, outsiders, considered themselves to not be part of the "in" crowd?The study does no such thing. The number of flaws and caveats in it are enormous, such as:
1) It asked the subjects themselves to rate their own mental health, rather than perform any objective evaluation.
2) It measured only a very limited period (6 weeks) rather than the months or years over which severe effects are expected to occur.
3) It specifically excluded gamers who played lengthy sessions (10+ hours)
4) Rather than tracking gamers who played only violent FPS and horror titles, it focused almost exclusively on players of low-key games like Animal Crossing, Eve Online, etc.
And most of all, its conclusion was that gaming didn't affect mental state unless the gamer felt compelled to play..
Animal Crossing? OK, yeah. That's exactly the kind of game people are referring to when they talk about violent video games. Where's the Counter Strike players, the Overwatch, CoD, Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite or PUBG?
I don't think games alone cause people to go off on violent rampages. But, I do think that playing these kinds of games for years can give you a warped perspective on violence. Throw in a little bullying, abuse at home or drug addictions and you have an opportunity for a bad outcome.