Finnish Young Adolescents' Digital Gaming and Physical Activity Behaviour

This study examines how digital gaming relates to physical activity among Finnish young adolescents aged 11 to 15, drawing on the 2022 F-SPA survey of 1,979 participants and a related analysis of approximately 886 respondents. Its central thesis is that the representational features of game genres, rather than gaming alone, shape the relationship between screen-based play and physical activity. The authors frame this as a test of the physical activity relationship model and the displacement hypothesis, which posit respectively that certain games may encourage movement and that gaming may crowd out active pursuits.

The findings reveal substantial demographic patterns. Some 74% of boys and 26% of girls play digital games at least daily, and daily play declines from 53% at age 11 to 17% at age 15. The gender imbalance is already evident at age 11, indicating that it precedes adolescence rather than emerging with it. Playing ball sport simulations was positively associated with frequent moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, with odds ratios reaching 7.62 for seven days of activity compared with zero to two days, and with sport club membership (OR = 2.75). By contrast, heavy first-person shooter play was negatively associated with club participation (OR = 0.59). Other esport genres showed no significant link to physical activity.

Taken together, the results offer partial support for the physical activity relationship model and limited support for displacement, suggesting that genre-specific content matters more than total play time. The study's scope is confined to Finland and to early adolescence, and its reference base draws on international physical activity and gaming research as well as Finnish national surveys, situating its findings within broader debates on youth health and sedentary behaviour.