title: Exposure to Violence and Children's Desensitization Attitudes in Lebanon.
abstract: Children exposed to multiple sources of violence may become desensitized, increasing the possibility of them imitating the aggressive behaviors they watch and considering such behavior as normal. The purpose of this article is to assess the association between exposure to various types of violence (including war) and desensitization in Lebanese children. A cross-sectional design with 207 school-aged children assessed exposure to violence using three surveys: (a) violence in the media (the Media Preference survey), (b) exposure to violence (the KID-SAVE survey), and (c) desensitization attitudes (the Attitude Toward Violence-Child Version). Children were between 8 and 12 years old, 56% were males, and 70%were from middle socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Seventy-six percent of children reported being exposed to violence, with more exposure in males and in the lower SES group. Impact, however, was greater on girls. The predictors of attitude toward violence were "Frequency" of exposure, "Impact" of exposure, and the amount of violence viewed on television. Children are massively exposed to violence in Lebanon resulting in desensitization, which may habituate them to accept violence as normal and put them at risk for imitating violent behaviors.
authors.affiliation: American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tarabah
authors.affiliation: Azusa Pacific University, CA, USA lbadr@apu.edu.
authors.forename: Lina Kurdahi
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Badr
authors.affiliation: American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Jinan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Usta
authors.affiliation: Azusa Pacific University, CA, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doyle
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000069581:Exposure to Violence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013690:Television; D018910:Video Games; D014857:Warfare
keywords: Lebanon; media and community violence; violence; war