NCJ Number
233318
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2011 Pages: 38-47
Date Published
January 2010
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined adolescents' excessive and pathological involvement with computer or video games and how this behavior is related to physical aggression.
Abstract
Studies have shown that pathological involvement with computer or video games is related to excessive gaming binges and aggressive behavior. The aims for this study were to longitudinally examine if pathological gaming leads to increasingly excessive gaming habits, and how pathological gaming may cause an increase in physical aggression. For this purpose, the authors conducted a two-wave panel study among 851 Dutch adolescents (49 percent female) of which 540 played games (30 percent female). The analyzes indicated that higher levels of pathological gaming predicted an increase in time spent playing games 6 months later. Time spent playing violent games specifically, and not just games per se, increased physical aggression. Furthermore, higher levels of pathological gaming, regardless of violent content, predicted an increase in physical aggression among boys. That this effect only applies to boys does not diminish its importance, because adolescent boys are generally the heaviest players of violent games and most susceptible to pathological involvement. (Published Abstract) Table, figures, and references