The results of a study released only yesterday comes as no surprise and only confirms what many concerned parents had suspected. According to a new study, children who get heavy doses of media violence
may be at greater risk of violent behavior as teenagers, even when a
range of other influences is considered.
The findings, the authors say, add to evidence that violence-packed
TV
shows, movies and video games can affect some behavior in children.
"Even in conjunction with other factors, our research shows that media
violence does enhance violent behavior," lead researcher Paul Boxer, of
Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, said in a written statement.
"On average, adolescents who were not exposed to violent media are not as prone to violent behavior."
The findings, reported in an early online edition of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence,
come from interviews with 820 teenagers and surveys of their parents
and teachers. Just over half of the teens were recruited from Michigan
high schools, while the rest were in juvenile detention centers. The
subjects were evenly mixed in the number of males and females, and the
number of minorities and non-minorities.
Boxer's team asked the teenagers about their favorite TV shows, movies
and video games going back to the age of 7, and then created "scores"
for each participant's total violent-media exposure.
The researchers also collected information on a number of other factors
that can affect a child's risk of violent or aggressive behavior
including academic difficulties, a history of psychological and
emotional problems and exposure to real-life violence.
The investigators found that even with these other factors considered,
heavy doses of media violence were related to a higher risk of violent
behavior and general aggression in adolescence. Even teens at low risk
of violence overall seemed to be vulnerable to the influence of media violence.
Based on these and past findings, "there currently can be very little doubt that exposure to violence in the media has a consistent and substantial impact on aggressive behavior," Boxer and his colleagues conclude.
The researchers are currently studying ways in which media violence may
affect preschoolers' behavior. Young children, Boxer noted, tend to
mimic the behavior they see, but are not yet able to tell reality from
fantasy, or right from wrong.
By understanding the mechanisms that influences a child's development,
"researchers can try to learn how to intervene in potentially
aggressive or antisocial behaviors, and effect change at a very young age," he adds.
Source: Reuters and Journal of Youth and Adolescence
2008 by Avis Ward of GeoVi's Home for Pregnant Teens
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