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How protective against child and adolescent aggressive behavior is a violence-free media diet?

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Center for Innovative Public Health Research
Center for Innovative Public Health Research

This document summarizes a study that examined the relationship between exposure to violent media and aggressive behavior in youth. The study found that youth who reported no exposure to violence in media were less likely to engage in seriously violent, bullying, or frequent fighting behavior compared to youth who reported frequent exposure. Specifically, youth with no violent media exposure had over an 80% reduced odds of aggressive behaviors. However, the study was limited by its cross-sectional design and potential for biased responding. Overall, the findings suggest that limiting exposure to violent media may help protect against aggressive behavior in children and adolescents.

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How protective against child and adolescent aggressive behavior is a violence-free media diet? Michele L Ybarra MPH PhD Internet Solutions for Kids, Inc. Marie Diener-West PhD Johns Hopkins School of Public Health American Public Health Association, Oct. 25-28 2008, San Diego CA Acknowledgement: Data collection for this presentation was supported by Cooperative Agreement number U49/CE000206 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC. * Thank you for your interest in this presentation.  Please note that analyses included herein are preliminary.  More recent, finalized analyses can be found in: Ybarra M, Diener-West M, Markow D, Leaf P, Hamburger M, & Boxer P. Linkages between internet and other media violence with seriously violent behavior by youth. Pediatrics. 2008;122(5):929-937, or by contacting CiPHR for further information.
Presenter Disclosures (1)The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: Michele Ybarra No relationships to disclose
Motivation for study Media violence's contribution to aggressive behavior has been reported across several studies (see the work of Huesmann, Eron, Bushman, Anderson, etc) The role of violence-free media in preventing violent and aggressive behavior is less well studied.
Brief Description of the Growing up with Media survey Online data collection among randomly identified households with adult members of Harris Poll OnLine  Baseline data collected August – September 2006  1,588 households  Youth between the ages of 10-15 years  Internet use monthly in the last 6 months  English speaking  26% response rate  Data weighted to approximate US households with children 10-15 years of age  Propensity scoring applied to address selection bias due to membership in the HPOL
Exposure to violent media In the last 12 months, when you watch TV or movies, how many of them show… when you listen to music, how many songs talk about … when you play video, computer or Internet games, how many show … how many of the websites you go to show real people… how many of the websites you go to show cartoons… physical fighting, hurting, shooting, or killing? Almost none/none Some of them Many of them Almost all/all (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.76)
Composite ‘violence exposure’ Based upon their answers, youth were placed into one of three categories: “Almost none / none” on all 5 media types: 6.2% (n=113) At least “Some” on at least one media type: 43.5% (n=710) “Many” or “Almost all / all” on at least one media type: 50.3% (n=765) 6% 50% 44% Many, most/all Some None
Seriously violent behavior  Shooting / stabbing someone: 1%, n=10  Aggravated assault (involvement in a fight where someone required medical care, threatening someone with a weapon): 3%, n=66  Robbery: 1%, n=25  Sexual aggression: 2%, n=37 4.8% (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87)
Other aggressive behavior Bullying: 38%, n=573 Shoving or pushing someone Fighting: 29%, n=438  Been in a fight in which someone was hit,  Gotten into a fight where a group of your friends were against another group of people
Demographic characteristics Characteristic “Many” or “Most/all” Some All None P value Youth age (mean) 12.9 12.4 11.9 <0.05 Female 39% 53% 80% <0.001 White race 69% 72% 90% 0.009 Hispanic ethnicity 20% 18% 6% 0.04 Household income <$35,000 24% 21% 22% 0.79 Parents married 73% 76% 72% 0.68
Psychosocial characteristics Characteristic “Many” or “Most/all” Some All None P value Alcohol consumption 18% 8% 0.9% <0.001 Marijuana use 8% 3% 0% 0.008 Witness of attack in real life 57% 42% 22% <0.001 Witness of spousal abuse 12% 6% 2% 0.001 Propensity to respond to stimuli with anger (Mean) (range: 10-30) 19.5 18.3 17.0 <0.05 Emotional closeness with caregiver (Mean) (range: 3- 14) 6.0 5.2 4.5 <0.001
Prevalence of violent, bullying, and fighting behavior based upon violent media exposure 6.9 3.1 0.3 36 27.9 9.5 10.7 4.3 0 32.1 22.1 5.2 4.2 1.50.8 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 1yearprevalencerate(%) Seriously violent behavior Infrequent bullying Frequent bullying Infrequent fighting Frequent fighting Type of aggressive behavior Most, Many / All Some All none
Relative odds of any seriously violent behavior given exposure to violent media 0.49 0.06 0.01 0.1 1 Some All none * ** Adjusted for youth sex and age Reference group: “Many” or “Most / all” of at least one type of media depict violence * p<0.05, **p<0.01
Relative odds of bullying given exposure to violent media 0.66 0.34 0.21 0.01 0.1 1 Less often then monthly Monthly or more often Some All none * *** *** Adjusted for youth sex and age Reference group: Never bullying and reporting “Many” or “Most / all” of at least one type of media depict violence * p<0.05, **p<0.01
Relative odds of fighting given exposure to violent media 0.63 0.32 0.14 0.16 0.01 0.1 1 Less often then monthly Monthly or more often Some All none * *** * * Adjusted for youth sex and age Reference group: Never bullying and reporting “Many” or “Most / all” of at least one type of media depict violence * p<0.05, **p<0.01
Synopsis 1 in 16 youth report no exposure to violence in media Youth reporting no exposure to violence in media are more likely to be:  White race, non-Hispanic ethnicity  Younger  Female  Not reporting psychosocial problems (e.g., alcohol use, poor caregiver child relationships)
Synopsis Youth who report no exposure to media violence are more than 80% less likely to concurrently report: seriously violent behavior bullying behavior frequent fighting When compared to otherwise similar youth of the same sex and age who report ‘many’, or ‘almost all / all’ of at least one type of media they consume is violent.
Limitations Cross-sectional data preclude temporal inferences. It’s just as likely that a lack of exposure to violent media is leading to a reduction in aggressive behavior; or that less aggressive behavior leads to a lack of exposure to violent media Findings are relevant only to households where caregiver and child have Internet access. Respondents were not observed during the data collection process. It is possible that:  Children were monitored by their parents  Parents completed the youth survey
Implications A lack of exposure to violent media may be protective against aggressive behavior.  even just moving youth from ‘many’, ‘most/all’ to ‘some’ violence may be influential. Efforts to engage parents and increase their dedication to a ‘no violent media’ home should be increased.  particularly for Hispanic, non-White homes

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How protective against child and adolescent aggressive behavior is a violence-free media diet?

  • 1. How protective against child and adolescent aggressive behavior is a violence-free media diet? Michele L Ybarra MPH PhD Internet Solutions for Kids, Inc. Marie Diener-West PhD Johns Hopkins School of Public Health American Public Health Association, Oct. 25-28 2008, San Diego CA Acknowledgement: Data collection for this presentation was supported by Cooperative Agreement number U49/CE000206 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC. * Thank you for your interest in this presentation.  Please note that analyses included herein are preliminary.  More recent, finalized analyses can be found in: Ybarra M, Diener-West M, Markow D, Leaf P, Hamburger M, & Boxer P. Linkages between internet and other media violence with seriously violent behavior by youth. Pediatrics. 2008;122(5):929-937, or by contacting CiPHR for further information.
  • 2. Presenter Disclosures (1)The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: Michele Ybarra No relationships to disclose
  • 3. Motivation for study Media violence's contribution to aggressive behavior has been reported across several studies (see the work of Huesmann, Eron, Bushman, Anderson, etc) The role of violence-free media in preventing violent and aggressive behavior is less well studied.
  • 4. Brief Description of the Growing up with Media survey Online data collection among randomly identified households with adult members of Harris Poll OnLine  Baseline data collected August – September 2006  1,588 households  Youth between the ages of 10-15 years  Internet use monthly in the last 6 months  English speaking  26% response rate  Data weighted to approximate US households with children 10-15 years of age  Propensity scoring applied to address selection bias due to membership in the HPOL
  • 5. Exposure to violent media In the last 12 months, when you watch TV or movies, how many of them show… when you listen to music, how many songs talk about … when you play video, computer or Internet games, how many show … how many of the websites you go to show real people… how many of the websites you go to show cartoons… physical fighting, hurting, shooting, or killing? Almost none/none Some of them Many of them Almost all/all (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.76)
  • 6. Composite ‘violence exposure’ Based upon their answers, youth were placed into one of three categories: “Almost none / none” on all 5 media types: 6.2% (n=113) At least “Some” on at least one media type: 43.5% (n=710) “Many” or “Almost all / all” on at least one media type: 50.3% (n=765) 6% 50% 44% Many, most/all Some None
  • 7. Seriously violent behavior  Shooting / stabbing someone: 1%, n=10  Aggravated assault (involvement in a fight where someone required medical care, threatening someone with a weapon): 3%, n=66  Robbery: 1%, n=25  Sexual aggression: 2%, n=37 4.8% (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87)
  • 8. Other aggressive behavior Bullying: 38%, n=573 Shoving or pushing someone Fighting: 29%, n=438  Been in a fight in which someone was hit,  Gotten into a fight where a group of your friends were against another group of people
  • 9. Demographic characteristics Characteristic “Many” or “Most/all” Some All None P value Youth age (mean) 12.9 12.4 11.9 <0.05 Female 39% 53% 80% <0.001 White race 69% 72% 90% 0.009 Hispanic ethnicity 20% 18% 6% 0.04 Household income <$35,000 24% 21% 22% 0.79 Parents married 73% 76% 72% 0.68
  • 10. Psychosocial characteristics Characteristic “Many” or “Most/all” Some All None P value Alcohol consumption 18% 8% 0.9% <0.001 Marijuana use 8% 3% 0% 0.008 Witness of attack in real life 57% 42% 22% <0.001 Witness of spousal abuse 12% 6% 2% 0.001 Propensity to respond to stimuli with anger (Mean) (range: 10-30) 19.5 18.3 17.0 <0.05 Emotional closeness with caregiver (Mean) (range: 3- 14) 6.0 5.2 4.5 <0.001
  • 11. Prevalence of violent, bullying, and fighting behavior based upon violent media exposure 6.9 3.1 0.3 36 27.9 9.5 10.7 4.3 0 32.1 22.1 5.2 4.2 1.50.8 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 1yearprevalencerate(%) Seriously violent behavior Infrequent bullying Frequent bullying Infrequent fighting Frequent fighting Type of aggressive behavior Most, Many / All Some All none
  • 12. Relative odds of any seriously violent behavior given exposure to violent media 0.49 0.06 0.01 0.1 1 Some All none * ** Adjusted for youth sex and age Reference group: “Many” or “Most / all” of at least one type of media depict violence * p<0.05, **p<0.01
  • 13. Relative odds of bullying given exposure to violent media 0.66 0.34 0.21 0.01 0.1 1 Less often then monthly Monthly or more often Some All none * *** *** Adjusted for youth sex and age Reference group: Never bullying and reporting “Many” or “Most / all” of at least one type of media depict violence * p<0.05, **p<0.01
  • 14. Relative odds of fighting given exposure to violent media 0.63 0.32 0.14 0.16 0.01 0.1 1 Less often then monthly Monthly or more often Some All none * *** * * Adjusted for youth sex and age Reference group: Never bullying and reporting “Many” or “Most / all” of at least one type of media depict violence * p<0.05, **p<0.01
  • 15. Synopsis 1 in 16 youth report no exposure to violence in media Youth reporting no exposure to violence in media are more likely to be:  White race, non-Hispanic ethnicity  Younger  Female  Not reporting psychosocial problems (e.g., alcohol use, poor caregiver child relationships)
  • 16. Synopsis Youth who report no exposure to media violence are more than 80% less likely to concurrently report: seriously violent behavior bullying behavior frequent fighting When compared to otherwise similar youth of the same sex and age who report ‘many’, or ‘almost all / all’ of at least one type of media they consume is violent.
  • 17. Limitations Cross-sectional data preclude temporal inferences. It’s just as likely that a lack of exposure to violent media is leading to a reduction in aggressive behavior; or that less aggressive behavior leads to a lack of exposure to violent media Findings are relevant only to households where caregiver and child have Internet access. Respondents were not observed during the data collection process. It is possible that:  Children were monitored by their parents  Parents completed the youth survey
  • 18. Implications A lack of exposure to violent media may be protective against aggressive behavior.  even just moving youth from ‘many’, ‘most/all’ to ‘some’ violence may be influential. Efforts to engage parents and increase their dedication to a ‘no violent media’ home should be increased.  particularly for Hispanic, non-White homes

Editor's Notes

  1. All prevalence rates are statistically significantly different based upon level of media violent exposure based upon chi-square tests (p&lt;0.001).
  2. Compared to youth reporting that “most” or “many/all” of at least one type of media is violent: Those reporting “some” or fewer of their media is violent are 51% less likely to report seriously violent behavior Those who report “none” of all of the media they watch depicts violence are 94% less likely to report seriously violent behavior.
  3. Using multinomial logistic regression… The conditional odds of infrequent bullying were 34% less, and the conditional odds of frequent bullying were 66% less for youth reporting “some” rather than ‘many’, ‘most/all’ exposure to violence in media. The conditional odds of infrequent bullying were 79% less for youth reporting “none” rather than ‘many’, ‘most/all’ exposure to violence in media. None of the youth reporting ‘no’ exposure to media violence also reported frequent bullying. The odds are therefore not calculatable.
  4. Using multinomial logistic regression… The conditional odds of infrequent fighting were 37% less, and the conditional odds of frequent fighting were 68% less for youth reporting “some” rather than ‘many’, ‘most/all’ exposure to violence in media. The conditional odds of infrequent fighting were 86% less, and the conditional odds of frequent fighting were 84% less for youth reporting “none” rather than ‘many’, ‘most/all’ exposure to violence in media.