A study of 39,000 video game players found that the time they spent playing had "almost no effect" on their health and well-being.

 The study found that the average player had to play 10 hours more than usual per day to notice any difference. Play was likely to have a significant impact on their mental health.

 Well-being was measured by asking about life satisfaction and levels of emotion and feelings such as happiness, sadness, anger and frustration.

 These findings contrast with a 2020 study by the same department at the Oxford Internet Institute - but with a much smaller group of gamers - and the 2020 study indicated that those who played longer were happier.

 Professor Andrew Przybylski, who worked on both studies, said: 'Common sense says that if you have more time to play video games, you are likely to be a happier person.