title: Mediators and moderators of long-term effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior: practice, thinking, and action.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although several longitudinal studies have demonstrated an effect of violent video game play on later aggressive behavior, little is known about the psychological mediators and moderators of the effect.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether cognitive and/or emotional variables mediate the effect of violent video game play on aggression and whether the effect is moderated by age, sex, prior aggressiveness, or parental monitoring.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-year longitudinal panel study. A total of 3034 children and adolescents from 6 primary and 6 secondary schools in Singapore (73% male) were surveyed annually. Children were eligible for inclusion if they attended one of the 12 selected schools, 3 of which were boys' schools. At the beginning of the study, participants were in third, fourth, seventh, and eighth grades, with a mean (SD) age of 11.2 (2.1) years (range, 8-17 years). Study participation was 99% in year 1.
  
  
  METHODS
  The final outcome measure was aggressive behavior, with aggressive cognitions (normative beliefs about aggression, hostile attribution bias, aggressive fantasizing) and empathy as potential mediators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Longitudinal latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that the effects of violent video game play are mediated primarily by aggressive cognitions. This effect is not moderated by sex, prior aggressiveness, or parental monitoring and is only slightly moderated by age, as younger children had a larger increase in initial aggressive cognition related to initial violent game play at the beginning of the study than older children. Model fit was excellent for all models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given that more than 90% of youths play video games, understanding the psychological mechanisms by which they can influence behaviors is important for parents and pediatricians and for designing interventions to enhance or mitigate the effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames.
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Education, Singapore.
authors.forename: Dongdong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Education, Singapore.
authors.forename: Angeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prot
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames.
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012846:Singapore; D013997:Time Factors; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*