"I often find that parents have nothing but the best intent with their children's relationship to technology," McDaniel says, "but there are a lot of myths out there."
One myth might be that video games are engrossing but not addictive.
Jaysen Perkins says he's back to playing basketball and engaging in other activities since his mother got him into therapy for a gaming addiction.
(Wanda Benvenutti For The Washington Post)
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"This is an exciting form of technology that kids really, really like," says David Walsh of the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family. "As a psychologist, I understand why it's so engaging. It's Psych 101 -- stimulus and response."
And it goes beyond that.
Certainly, popular games such as the Grand Theft Auto series and online games like Socom II and EverQuest -- where multiple players can compete over the Internet -- are designed to engage the player, but what actually makes them addictive?
McDaniel points to what video game manufacturers call "the God effect."
"You're the center of the universe" in more addictive role-playing games, McDaniel says. "Which is very attractive for teenagers without a lot of power, psychologically, in the world."
Parents can discern between misuse and addiction if they notice two important telltale signs in their children: withdrawal and isolation.
"If you're a parent and your child is withdrawing, you might wonder if your kid is getting into pot or cocaine," says Hilarie Cash of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Wash. "The symptoms are very similar."
Cash and McDaniel are working on a parents' guide to gaming addiction in which they outline the symptoms to look for in young gamers -- something parents can prevent, they say, by regulating their children's gaming time.
