BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.17, No.2, 2024, BECE 1867 

 

 

 

 

The Cost of Virtual Reality in Health: An 

Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Online 

Gaming on Adolescent Mental Health 

By Sun, H., Su, J., & Ru, P. 
Correspondence to: Peng Ru, Tsinghua University, China. E-mail: 

rupeng@tsinghua.edu.cn 

MONG MANY factors contributing to adolescents’ mental health is-

sues, the prevalence of online gaming is considered as a major one in 

the literature. This article is an analysis of the effect of online gaming on 

teenager mental health with a close examination of various factors influenc-

ing the effect including personal characteristics of the student and peer, fami-

ly, and school characteristics. The research is based on the data from the 

China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) 2014-2015. The seventh and ninth 

graders from 438 classes in 112 schools were included in the sample.  

 Research findings:  

• In general, online gaming was unfavorable to adolescents’ men-

tal health development. After controlling for other factors, the 

bigger amount of time the student spent on online gaming, the 

poorer mental health they had. 

• Regarding student personal factors, there was no gender differ-

ence in their mental health; students with Hukou in rural areas 

had lower levels of mental health; student academic perfor-

mance was positively related to their mental health levels; stu-

dent misconduct was a negative predictor of their mental health. 

After controlling for these personal factors, online gaming time 

negatively predicted adolescents’ mental health levels. 

• The school’s ranking and the average academic level of the 

class were negatively related to the student’s mental health state. 

This may be due to the intense academic competition among 

higher-achieving peers. After controlling for peer characteris-

tics-related factors, the intensity of online gaming was negative-

ly predictive of the student’s mental health state. 

• The parent-child relationship and family SES were significantly 

and positively related to student mental health; Parental super-

vision was negatively but not significantly related to student 

mental health; Living with parents or not directly correlated 

with the adolescent child’s mental health state. After controlling 

A 

mailto:rupeng@tsinghua.edu.cn


 

Vol.17, No.2, 2024, BECE 1868 

for these family-related factors, there was an inverse relation 

between online gaming time and adolescent mental health. 

• After controlling for school-related factors, such as the school 

location and school type, the intensity of online gaming was 

significantly and negatively related to the student’s mental 

health level. 

 
Source: Tsinghua Journal of Education, 2023; 44(6):103-114.