Factors correlated with violent video game use by adolescent boys and girls.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the video and computer game play patterns of young adolescent boys and girls, including factors correlated with playing violent games.


METHODS
Data collected in November/December, 2004 from children in grades 7 and 8 at two demographically diverse schools in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, using a detailed written self-reported survey.


RESULTS
Of 1254 participants (53% female, 47% male), only 80 reported playing no electronic games in the previous 6 months. Of 1126 children who listed frequently played game titles, almost half (48.8%) played at least one violent (mature-rated) game regularly (67.9% of boys and 29.2% of girls). One third of boys and 10.7% of girls play games nearly every day; only 1 in 20 plays often or always with a parent. Playing M-rated games is positively correlated (p < .001) with being male, frequent game play, playing with strangers over the Internet, having a game system and computer in one's bedroom, and using games to manage anger.


CONCLUSIONS
Most young adolescent boys and many girls routinely play M-rated games. Implications for identifying atypical and potentially harmful patterns of electronic game use are discussed, as well as the need for greater media literacy among parents.
Olson
Cheryl K
CK
Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media in the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. ckolson@partners.org
Kutner
Lawrence A
LA
Warner
Dorothy E
DE
Almerigi
Jason B
JB
Baer
Lee
L
Nicholi
Armand M
AM
Beresin
Eugene V
EV
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010414:Pennsylvania; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012307:Risk Factors; D013022:South Carolina; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018910:Video Games; D014754:Violence