Youths who play video games are more likely to think and act in aggressive ways, suggested a study out on March 24 of more than 3,000 schoolchildren in Singapore. The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, a journal of the American Medical Association, was based on more than 3,034 children who were studied over the course of three years.
Frequent use of video games was linked to higher rates of aggressive behaviours and thoughts, according to self-reported answers to survey questions by the children. The participants' average age was 11 at the start of the study, and three-quarters of them were boys.
The study also found that answers were similar among boys and girls, and that parental involvement was not likely to change behaviour. The researchers said their findings support previous research that has shown a link between video games and aggression.
"This study found that habitual violent video game playing increases long-term aggressive behaviour by producing general changes in aggressive cognition, and this occurs regardless of sex, age, initial aggressiveness or parental involvement," said the study which was led by researchers at the National Institute of Education in Singapore and the Iowa State University department of psychology.
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