Media violence exposure and executive functioning in aggressive and control adolescents.
The relationship between media violence exposure and executive functioning was investigated in samples of adolescents with no psychiatric diagnosis or with a history of aggressive-disruptive behavior. Age-, gender-, and IQ-matched samples of adolescents who had no Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fourth edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnosis (N = 27) and of adolescents who had DSM-IV Disruptive Behavior Disorder diagnoses (N = 27) completed measures of media violence exposure and tests of executive functioning. Moderate to strong relationships were found between higher amounts of media violence exposure and deficits in self-report, parent-report, and laboratory-based measures of executive functioning. A significant diagnosis by media violence exposure interaction effect was found for Conners' Continuous Performance Test scores, such that the media violence exposure-executive functioning relationship was stronger for adolescents who had Disruptive Behavior Disorder diagnoses. Results indicate that media violence exposure is related to poorer executive functioning, and this relationship may be stronger for adolescents who have a history of aggressive-disruptive behavior.
Indiana University School of Medicine, USA. wkronenb@iupui.edu
William G
WG
Kronenberger
Vincent P
VP
Mathews
David W
DW
Dunn
Yang
Y
Wang
Elisabeth A
EA
Wood
Ann L
AL
Giauque
Joelle J
JJ
Larsen
Mary E
ME
Rembusch
Mark J
MJ
Lowe
Tie-Qiang
TQ
Li
D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*