Mark Kien Dehan

The Influence of Media Violence on Youth

Summary

Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. The effects appear larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also substantial  when compared with effects of other violence risk factors or medical effects deemed important by the medical community . The research base is large; diverse in methods, samples, and media genres; and consistent in overall findings. The evidence is clearest within the most extensively researched domain, television and film violence. The growing body of video-game research yields essentially the same conclusions.

Short-term exposure increases the likelihood of physically and verbally aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions. Recent large-scale longitudinal studies provide converging evidence linking frequent exposure to violent media in childhood with aggression later in life, including physical assaults and spouse abuse. Because extremely violent criminal behaviors  are rare, new longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to estimate accurately how much habitual childhood exposure to media violence increases the risk for extreme violence.

Well-supported theory delineates why and when exposure to media violence increases aggression and violence. Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors. Media violence produces long-term effects via several types of learning processes leading to the acquisition of lasting  aggressive scripts, interpretational schemas, and aggression-supporting beliefs about social behavior, and by reducing individuals' normal negative emotional responses to violence .

Certain characteristics of viewers , social environments , and media content  can influence the degree to which media violence affects aggression, but there are some inconsistencies in research results. This research also suggests some avenues for preventive intervention . However, extant research on moderators suggests that no one is wholly immune to the effects of media violence.

Recent surveys reveal an extensive presence of violence in modern media. Furthermore, many children and youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media. Although it is clear that reducing exposure to media violence will reduce aggression and violence, it is less clear what sorts of interventions will produce a reduction in exposure. The sparse research literature suggests that counter attitudinal and parental-mediation interventions are likely to yield beneficial effects, but that media literacy interventions by themselves are unsuccessful.

Though the scientific debate over whether media violence increases aggression and violence is essentially over, several critical tasks remain. Additional laboratory and field studies are needed for a better understanding of underlying psychological processes, which eventually should lead to more effective interventions. Large-scale longitudinal studies would help specify the magnitude of media-violence effects on the most severe types of violence. Meeting the larger societal challenge of providing children and youth with a much healthier media diet may prove to be more difficult and costly, especially if the scientific, news, public policy, and entertainment communities fail to educate the general public about the real risks of media-violence exposure to children and youth.

Adolescent sexuality and the media

INTRODUCTION

We reviewed the current scientific literature on adolescents and sex in the media—using searches of MEDLINE—and the psychological and media literature. The emphasis was on rigorous research and included accessing the expertise of health care professionals and other knowledgeable sources on the media. The available research does not adequately address the effects of exposure to sexual content in the media on adolescent beliefs, knowledge, intentions, and behaviors. Similarly, research on sexual content of the Internet, in video games or other handheld devices, or in the multitude of other electronic media has been scant.

SEXUALITY IN THE MEDIA

Although sexual content in the media can affect any age group, adolescents may be particularly vulnerable. Adolescents may be exposed to sexual content in the media during a developmental period when gender roles, sexual attitudes, and sexual behaviors are being shaped.1 This group may be particularly at risk because the cognitive skills that allow them to critically analyze messages from the media and to make decisions based on possible future outcomes are not fully developed.

Analyses of broadcast media content indicate that, on average, teenaged viewers see 143 incidents of sexual behavior on network television at prime time each week, with portrayals of three to four times as many sexual activities occurring between unmarried partners as between spouses. As much as 80% of all movies shown on network or cable television stations have sexual content. An analysis of music videos indicates that 60% portray sexual feelings and impulses, and a substantial minority display provocative clothing and sexually suggestive body movements. Analyses of media content also show that sexual messages on television are almost universally presented in a positive light, with little discussion of the potential risks of unprotected sexual intercourse and few portrayals of adverse consequences.

Survey data show that adolescents' access to and use of media as sources of information are substantial. In a national study,8 high school students reported an average of 2.9 television sets, and 1.3 of 10 (13%) of American children reported living in homes with two or more televisions, 97% had videocassette recorders in their homes, 75% had access to cable television, and more than half had a television set in their own rooms.7 Further, more than 80% of adolescents report that their peers find out some or a lot about sex, drugs, and violence from television shows, movies, and other entertainment media.13 About 10% of teens acknowledge that they have learned more about the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) from these media sources than from parents, school personnel, clergy, or friends.

ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY AND CONSEQUENCES

Policy makers and health professionals have long been concerned about premarital sexual activity in the teenaged population and the risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).14,15 Nationwide, nearly half of all high school students have had sexual intercourse,12 with African Americans significantly more likely to be sexually experienced (72%) than Hispanics (52%) or whites (47%).16 Research suggests that even among teenagers who have not experienced vaginal intercourse, substantial numbers engage in other intimate sexual behaviors that carry health risks.

Among adolescent girls in the United States aged between 15 and 17 years, 75 per 1,000 become pregnant each year, a rate two to seven times higher than rates in other industrialized nations. Those adolescents (19% of the adolescent population) who report four or more lifetime sexual partners are at greater risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection. Overall, 25% of sexually active teenagers and 13% of all adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 become infected with sexually transmitted diseases each year, representing 3 million cases or about 25% of all new cases reported annually.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT SEXUAL CONTENT IN THE MEDIA

What we know about the potential effects of televised sexual content on adolescents is based largely on content analyses of media that quantify levels of sexual material and track trends from year to year. This work includes studies of network and cable programming, rock music and music videos, and R- and X-rated films available on videocassette.

In addition to content analyses, correlational studies have linked sociodemographic factors  to adolescents' viewing preferences and to their understanding and interpretation of sexual material in the media. Findings indicate that adolescent girls choose network television programs with sexual content more often than do adolescent boys and spend more time watching it, often in the company of parents.5 Older adolescent boys, however, are more oriented to the hardcore sexual content found in explicit music lyrics and X-rated films.3 They are also more drawn to new media choices like handheld devices, the Internet, and computer games.22 Adolescents of both sexes who watch and listen to a lot of media are more likely to accept stereotypes of sex roles on television as realistic than are less frequent viewers.

Other research indicates that ethnicity plays an important role in media viewing choices. Compared with their white peers, African Americans spend more time watching television, are more likely to choose fictional programming with African American characters, and are more likely to perceive those characters as realistic. African American and white youths also find different features of video portrayals salient and disagree on story elements. Higher rates of viewing by adolescent African American adolescents, especially of soap operas, make them more likely to see sexual content. Comparable data are not available on Asian, Latino, or other ethnic subgroups.

Age or stage of development also influences comprehension and interpretation of sexual content. In a study of sexual innuendo on television, 12-year-old youths were less likely to understand suggestive material than 14- and 16-year-olds. Similarly, in a qualitative study of adolescent girls aged 11 to 15, those who were at an earlier stage of physiologic development were less interested in sex portrayed in the media whereas more mature young women were intrigued and more actively sought out sexual content in the media as a means of “learning the rules, rituals, and skills” of romance and relationships. Specifically, they reported that the media provided models for achieving the “right look” to become popular and attract boys, portrayed teen characters with problems similar to their own, showed how they solved those problems, and gave examples of how to behave in sexual situations. We could not find comparable studies of developmental influences on boys' understanding and interpretation of sexual content.

A few studies have assessed the associations between the degree and nature of adolescent exposure to sexual content and their sexual attitudes and behaviors. A recent study of African American girls aged 14 to 18 years found that teens with either multiple sexual partners or a history of sexually transmitted infections reported a higher rate of viewing television shows that depicted women as sexual objects or prizes. A few experimental studies have shown that viewing sexual content can have moderate effects on sexual knowledge or attitudes, but it is unclear whether these effects are sustained over time or result in changes in sexual intentions or behavior. Brown and Newcomer found that television viewing patterns differed by the sexual status of the adolescent , with sexually active teens viewing more television with a high level of sexual content. Determining whether exposure to sexual content encouraged sexual experimentation, or vice versa, was not possible. This is a key unanswered question because of the lack of longitudinal research in this field.

Many theories have been advanced to explain the effects of media on behavior. They are all based on the fundamental notion that greater exposure to the media leads to the adoption of the values, beliefs, and behaviors that are portrayed, particularly when they are shown to be reinforced or are unaccompanied by adverse consequences. Research on exposure to violent content in the media provides some support for these views. Sexual activity, however, may not be learned by observation and modeling in the same way as aggression or violence. Other promising work appears in research on televised alcohol advertising and adolescent drinking. Findings suggest that simple exposure to alcohol advertisements does not affect alcohol use. Rather, the effects of alcohol advertisements depend on the extent to which young people like and attend to them. Music and humor are key elements in determining liking and attention. Importantly, this research used statistical modeling that showed that attention to alcohol advertising increases adolescent drinking, whereas drinking does not influence attention to alcohol advertising.