Longitudinal Relations Between Children's Exposure to TV Violence and Their Aggressive and Violent Behavior in Young Adulthood: 1977-1992

Although the relation between TV-violence viewing and aggression in childhood has been clearly demonstrated, only a few studies have examined this relation from childhood to adulthood, and these studies of children growing up in the 1960s reported significant relations only for boys. The current stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 2003-03, Vol.39 (2), p.201-221
Main Authors: Rowell Huesmann, L, Moise-Titus, Jessica, Podolski, Cheryl-Lynn, Eron, Leonard D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult Development
Aggression
Aggressive Behavior
Aggressiveness
Attitudes
Child
Childhood
Childhood Attitudes
Children
Children & youth
Developmental psychology
Developmental Stages
Exposure
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Followup Studies
Human
Humans
Identification (Defense Mechanism)
Identification (Psychology)
Individual Development
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Media
Prediction
Predictor Variables
Psychology
Realism
Studies
Television
Television programmes
Television Viewing
USA
Violence
Young Adults
Youth
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Summary:Although the relation between TV-violence viewing and aggression in childhood has been clearly demonstrated, only a few studies have examined this relation from childhood to adulthood, and these studies of children growing up in the 1960s reported significant relations only for boys. The current study examines the longitudinal relations between TV-violence viewing at ages 6 to 10 and adult aggressive behavior about 15 years later for a sample growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. Follow-up archival data ( N = 450) and interview data ( N = 329) reveal that childhood exposure to media violence predicts young adult aggressive behavior for both males and females. Identification with aggressive TV characters and perceived realism of TV violence also predict later aggression. These relations persist even when the effects of socioeconomic status, intellectual ability, and a variety of parenting factors are controlled.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.39.2.201