TUESDAY, April 4 (HealthDay News) -- Despite the rating information on M-rated (for "mature") video games, many in this category contain unlabeled content that is potentially harmful to children and adolescents, according to a study published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Kimberly M. Thompson, Sc.D., and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health recorded at least one hour of game play of 37 randomly selected M-rated video games from a database of all 147 M-rated video games scheduled for release on major video game consoles. They assessed the content for violence, blood, sexual themes, gambling, alcohol, tobacco or other drugs; and use of profanity in dialogue, song lyrics and gestures.
Of the sample, 29 games (81 percent) had 45 examples of content that was not labeled. Compared with T-rated (for "teen") games, M-rated games were significantly more likely to contain blood, profanity and substance use. They were also more likely to depict severe injury and have a higher rate of human deaths.
"Parents and physicians should recognize that popular M-rated video games contain a wide range of unlabeled content and may expose children and adolescents to messages that may negatively influence their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors," the authors concluded.
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