14 DAY TRIAL // Even though the general belief is that violent video games trigger a subsequent aggressive behavior in young Hispanics in the US, a Texas A&M International University researcher carried out a study that concluded otherwise.
Dr. Christopher Ferguson conducted the study (part of a larger review on youth violence) on 302 mainly Hispanic children, aged 10 to 14 years, coming from a small Hispanic-majority city population on the border of Mexico.
The kids were interviewed twice – once at the beginning of the study and one year later.
The researcher analyzed their exposure to violence in video games and television, but also in the negative events in their lives, which included negative relationships with adults, neighborhood problems, antisocial personality, family attachment and delinquent friends.
Other aspects that Ferguson evaluated included the type of family interaction and communication, adolescents’ exposure to domestic violence, depressive symptoms, serious aggression, bullying and delinquent behavior.
The results of this study show that within the past month, 75% of young people played video games on computers, consoles or other devices, and 40% of them played violent games – the boys playing more violent games than the girls.
After twelve months, 7% reported being involved in at least one criminally violent act during the one-year period, with physical assaults on other students being the most frequent, along with the use of physical force to take an object or money from someone else.
Nineteen percent of the participants reported engaging in at least one nonviolent crime during the same period, the favorite criminal activities being shoplifting and thefts on school property.
Ferguson believes that the kids' depressive symptoms are responsible for their behavior, strongly prediction youth aggression and rule breaking.
As for those who had previous antisocial personality traits, the influence of depressive symptoms was even higher.
The interesting point is that neither being exposed to violence from video games nor to television violence, predicted aggressive behavior or rule-breaking in young people.
Even after this study, the potential negative impact of violent video games on antisocial behavior and youth violence will continue to be a debate, but the current methodologies cannot be conclusive.
“Depressive symptoms stand out as particularly strong predictors of youth violence and aggression, and therefore current levels of depression may be a key variable of interest in the prevention of serious aggression in youth,” concluded Ferguson.
“The current study finds no evidence to support a long-term relationship between video game violence use and subsequent aggression.
“Even though the debate over violent video games and youth violence will continue, it must do so with restraint.”
These findings are published online in Springer’s Journal of Youth and Adolescence.