Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Violent video games have been the subject of much news and analysis. One area of the debate, particularly in legal arenas, has been whether parents have or should have control over what games their children play. Despite such debates, only limited empirical research has examined whether parents actually do have influence over what games their children play or how much they play them. Using cross-sectional data from large-samples of American high-school and middle-school students, this study examines parental influences on violent video game play and the role of perceived parental opinion of violent video games. Results suggest that parental attachment …

Despite decades of study, no scholarly consensus has emerged regarding whether violent video games contribute to youth violence. Some skeptics contend that small correlations between violent game play and violence-related outcomes may be due to other factors, which include a wide range of possible effects from gender, mental health, and social influences. The current study examines this issue with a large and diverse (49% white, 21% black, 18% Hispanic, and 12% other or mixed race/ethnicity; 51% female) sample of youth in eighth (n=5,133) and eleventh grade (n=3,886). Models examining video game play and violence-related outcomes without any controls tended to …

For roughly two decades, academics, politicians, and the media have debated the relationship between playing violent video games and engaging in violent acts. Despite the extensive attention paid to this possible outcome, no such spotlight has been placed on what leads to youth playing violent video games, which would provide the necessary context for potential later effects. The present study uses five datasets that include over 19,000 American youth in fifth through twelfth grades to provide an exploratory, inductive investigation into the predictors of playing violent video games. The results identify several themes of predictors of violent game play, including …

In the debated topic of violent video games and violent behavior, empirical evidence has been mixed. Some studies support the assertion that there is a causal or correlational link between gaming and violence, while others do not find such support. Recent advances have demonstrated that adequately controlling for background characteristics that might result in a selection bias decrease the effect sizes. However, it remains unclear how strong of an effect video game playing has in comparison to other risk factors. The present study uses data from over 6,000 eighth grade students to examine the effects of playing violent games. Using …

Throughout the past decade, numerous states have passed legislation to prohibit the sale of violent video games to children, usually in conjunction with an argument that exposure to violent media increases violent behavior. However, the link between video games and violence is not yet fully understood. This study uses propensity score matching as a method to more adequately address the underlying issue of causality. Using a sample of 6,567 8th grade students, these analyses test whether there is a causal link between playing violent video games and violence, non-violent deviance and substance use. Results indicate a substantial decrease in the …