Linkages between violent exposures in new media and violent behavior: Findings from the Growing up with Media national survey

Ybarra, Michele & Leaf, Philip (2006). Linkages between violent exposures in new media and violent behavior: Findings from the Growing up with Media national survey. Presented at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Reverse Site Visit, Atlanta, GA.

Summary:

This presentation uses data from the Growing up with Media study to discuss the linkages between violent exposures in new media and violent behavior. As technology increases in sophistication, questions about it’s potential impact on child and adolescent behavior offline must be examined. Specific research questions addressed include:

1. What is the frequency of exposure to violence online? Is this online violence related to violent behavior? How does this fit into the more general sphere of media violence?

2. With potentially increased access, what is the frequency of exposure to pornography online? Is it associated with violent sexual behavior?

3. Prevention messages: Are parents getting it?

Findings include:

Among all youth:

- 42% report exposure to violence on at least one type of web site in the last year (29% if news sites are excluded).

- News-related sites (24%) and cartoon violence sites (21%) are the two most common exposures.

- Reported visiting death sites and hate sites are the two online exposures most strongly associated with concurrent reports of seriously violent behavior.

- Not knowing about some types of web sites such as satanic sites or death sites appears to be protective against concurrent reports of seriously violent behavior.

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