Finnish young adolescents’ digital gaming and physical activity behaviour

Abstract

24 In this cross-sectional study of Finnish adolescents, we investigated the rates of digital 25 game playing and examined the associations between playing a lot of digital games and 26 physical activity or sport club participation. A national representative sample (n = 27 1979) from Finland aged between 11y–15y olds completed a self-report survey in 2022. 28 Analyses were carried out by chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses. More 29 males (74%) than females (26%) played digital games at least once a day. Playing at 30 least daily decreased from 11y (53%), 13y (30%) to 15y (17%) olds. Positive 31 associations were found with playing ball sport simulations and taking part in >4 32 days/week of physical activity or sport club participation (OR = 2.8, CI=1.7–4.4). 33 Negative associations were found between playing a lot of first-person shooter games 34 and sport club participation (OR = 0.6, CI=0.4–0.9). The results imply that 35 representational features in genres may be relevant for their links to physical activity. 36