Child video game playing (“gaming”) may lead to decreased child academic motivation. Conversely, children with low academic motivation may seek fulfillment through gaming. We examined bidirectional associations between child gaming and academic motivation across middle childhood.

Our analyses are based on 1,631 children (boys = 785) followed in the context of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Data on gaming and academic motivation were collected repeatedly at ages 7, 8, and 10. Measures of child gaming were parent-reported and reflect daily video game playing time. Measures of academic motivation were child self-reported and reflect enjoyment in learning mathematics, reading, and writing. To disentangle the directionality of associations, we estimated a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to estimate bidirectional, within-person associations between gaming and academic motivation in a cohort of school-aged Canadian children.

Our results revealed unidirectional associations whereby more frequent gaming by boys at age 7 years predicted lower academic motivation at age 8 years (β = −.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −.22 to −.01), and similarly, gaming by boys at age 8 years predicted lower academic motivation at age 10 years (β = −.10, 95% CI: −.19 to −.01). Changes in boys’ academic motivation did not contribute to subsequent changes in gaming. There were no associations between gaming and academic motivation for girls.

More time devoted to gaming among school-aged boys is associated with reduced academic motivation during a critical developmental period for the development of academic skills. Fostering healthy gaming habits may help promote academic motivation and success.