TV Violence Linked to Aggression in Teenage Boys

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Superhero slugfests and TV tough-guy shootouts might have long-term effects on a preschool boy’s behavior, a new study says.

Boys exposed to violent media between ages 3 and 5 are more likely to develop aggressive and antisocial behaviors by the time they turn 15, researchers report.

“Our study provides compelling evidence that early childhood exposure to media violence can have serious, long-lasting consequences, particularly for boys,” lead researcher Linda Pagani, a professor of psychoeducation with the University of Montreal, said in a news release.

Children “are attracted to fast-paced, stimulating violent content, which often features appealing characters like superheroes who commit and are rewarded for aggressive acts, thus increasing the likelihood of exposure,” the researchers wrote in their paper, which appears in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from 963 girls and 982 boys born in 1997 and 1998, all of whom are taking part in a Quebec-based long-term study of child development.

Parents reported how frequently their child was exposed to violent TV shows when the kids were around 3 to 5 years old.

Once the kids turned 15, they filled out a questionnaire designed to evaluate their mental health and behaviors.

Teenage boys who’d watched more violent TV as preschoolers were more likely to report that they’d engaged in:

• Proactive aggression – hitting or threatening to hit someone to gain something from them.
• Physical aggression – engaging in fights, cyberbullying, insults or threats.
• Antisocial behavior – conduct that caused them to run afoul of the law.

Such behaviors can “snowball over time,” researchers wrote, and “often persist into adulthood, with youth displaying the highest levels being four to five times more likely to develop disruptive behaviors and emotional disorders.”

TV violence did not appear to affect girls’ behavior, possibly because they don’t watch as much fast-paced, violence-packed shows and movies as boys, researchers noted.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/mental-health/tv-violence-linked-to-aggression-in-teenage-boys