Media Violence Cited As 'Critical Risk Factor'
For Aggression
November 20, 2008
Paul Boxer's large-scale study shows conclusive link between media violence and
real violence in adolescents.
You are what you watch, when it comes to violence in the media and its influence
on violent behavior in young people, and a new paper, lead-authored by Rutgers
University, Newark, researcher Paul Boxer, provides new evidence that violent
media does indeed impact adolescent behavior.
The research, to be published in February/2009 in the Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, shows that even when other factors are considered, such as
academic skills, encounters with community violence, or emotional problems,
"childhood and adolescent violent media preferences contributed
significantly to the prediction of violence and general aggression" in the
study subjects. The study is available online at http://www.springerlink.com/content/4788773215243487/fulltext.html.
Boxer, an assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University in Newark, has
been involved since 2004 in research funded by the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) into media violence and its relation to serious youth violence and
criminal behavior. Although a relationship between media violence and violent
behavior has been acknowledged for some 40 years, much of the research was
usually done in a laboratory setting rather than in the field, with very little
emphasis on documenting links between media violence and actual engagement in
serious violent and antisocial behavior, explains Boxer.
What's more, many studies did not sufficiently address other influences on the
children's behaviors, such as exposure to violent or aggressive behavior at
school or in the community, academic difficulties, and psychopathic tendencies
or other emotional problems, according to Boxer.
Because violence is a "multiply determined behavior," Boxer and the
research team collected data on several risk factors for aggression, to examine
whether violent media exposure has an impact on behavior even when those other
influences are present. "Even in conjunction with other factors, our
research shows that media violence does enhance violent behavior," Boxer
states. "On average, adolescents who were not exposed to violent media are
not as prone to violent behavior."
Boxer was the lead author on the paper, the first paper produced through the CDC
project. It reports the results of the research team's extensive interviews of
820 adolescents from the state of Michigan - 430 high school students from
rural, suburban and urban communities, and 390 juvenile delinquents held in
county and state facilities. The adolescents were about evenly split between
male and female, minority and non-minority. Parents or guardians of 720 of the
youths also were interviewed, as were teachers/staff of 717 of them. Each
subject was asked about favorites TV shows, movies and video/computer games,
both as a child and as a teen, and questioned to determine if they had engaged
in specific antisocial behaviors, such as throwing rocks or using a weapon.
Interviewers also investigated the youths' exposures to aggression or violence,
as well as other risk factors for aggressive behavior, such as emotional
disorders or being victimized. The parents, guardians, teachers and staff also
were interviewed about the behaviors they had observed in their children or
students.
After collecting the data, researchers analyzed findings by integrating
"violent media exposure scores" into cumulative risk totals. Their
findings: high violent risk scores "added significantly to the prediction
of both violence and general aggression." What's more, "even for those
lowest in other risk factors, a preference for violent media was predictive of
violent behavior and general aggression," according to the findings.
Boxer believes the study results can be used to assess, intervene and treat
young people displaying aggressive behavior. He also knows more detailed
research is needed, such as analyzing the impact on behavior when violent
interactive video games are banned.
Boxer is co-investigator on the CDC grant; Principal Investigator is Dr. Rowell
Huesmann, University of Michigan; the other co-investigator is Dr. Brad Bushman,
University of Michigan.
Boxer and his team also are in the process of analyzing data collected through
interviews with pre-school children and their parents to determine how violent
media consumption impacts very young children. "Young children react to
what they see and they mimic behavior," but are unable to distinguish
between reality and fantasy, or right and wrong, says Boxer. By investigating
the mechanisms that influence their development, researchers can try to learn
how to intervene in potentially aggressive or anti-social behaviors, and effect
change at a very young age, he notes.
Boxer's research into media violence and its impact is only one aspect of his
overall work, which "focuses on the impact of violence in all aspects of
the social environment on child and adolescent development." Boxer is
currently working on research that emphasizes the role of family violence and
community violence in children's aggressive behaviors. Boxer also is involved in
federally funded research investigating the role of political violence in
childhood adjustment, as part of a team directing research with children growing
up in Israel and the Palestinian Territory.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source: Carla Capizzi
Rutgers
University
Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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