Emerging issues in research on adolescents’ exposure to violence

Ybarra, Michele, Korchmaros, Josephine, & Mitchell, Kimberly (2010, March).  Emerging issues in research on adolescents’ exposure to violence. Presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Summary:

This presentation analyzes data from three waves of data of the Growing up with Media study collected in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Specific research questions addressed include:

1) What is the relative influence of interactive versus passive media violence exposure on externalizing behaviors?

2) Is media violence exposure influential in explaining externalizing behavior over and above exposure to violence in the community?

Findings include:

- Across the three waves of data collection,

             7-12% of youth reported that almost all or all of at least one of the passive media they consumed in the past year, defined by television and/or music, depicted physical fighting, hurting, shooting, or killing.

             10% reported that almost all or all of at least one of the interactive media theyconsumed in the past year, defined by games and/or websites, depicted violence.

- For interactive media, adjusted incident relative rate of externalizing behaviors given media violence exposure are for seriously violent behavior (1.6%), delinquent behavior (1.3%), and aggressive behavior (1.3%). Compared to passive media, adjusted incident relative rates are for seriously violent behavior (1.7%), delinquent behavior (1.1%), and aggressive behavior (1.2%).

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