Effects of viewing relational aggression on television on aggressive behavior in adolescents: A three-year longitudinal study.

Abstract

Most researchers on media and aggression have examined the behavioral effects of viewing physical aggression in the media. Conversely, in the current study, I examined longitudinal associations between viewing relational aggression on TV and subsequent aggressive behavior. Participants included 467 adolescents who completed a number of different questionnaires involving media and aggression at 3 different time points. Results revealed that viewing relational aggression on TV was longitudinally associated with future relational aggression. However, early levels of relational aggression did not predict future exposure to televised relational aggression. Conversely, there was a bidirectional relationship between TV violence and physical aggression over time. No longitudinal evidence was found for a general effect of viewing TV, as all significant media effects were specific to the type of aggression viewed. These results support the general aggression model and suggest that viewing relational aggression in the media can have a long-term effect on aggressive behavior during adolescence.

Impacts of media on sexual behaviour and relationships among youth in foster care

“…Finally, consistent with prior research in other populations, caregivers described the importance of and barriers to both monitoring and mediating media content with YFC (Collier et al, ; Coyne, ; Padilla‐Walker et al, ). Barriers described were similar to those found in studies involving other youth populations, but are likely to be amplified by factors such as a lack of familiarity or trust bond with a youth in their home or encountering defiant or oppositional youth.…”

“…Participants cited numerous ways in which media influences youth norms and attitudes around romantic and sexual behaviour, beauty and physical appearance, and idealizations of family life. Consistent with research on other groups of youth, participants also perceived impacts on youth behaviour, such as engagement in risky sexual behaviours, viewing of pornography, and connection with predators and/or risky peers (Bailin et al, ; Brown et al, ; Chandra et al, ; Coyne, ; Exelmans et al, ).…”

“…Media is known to impact sexual and other health risk behaviours in adolescents in the general population (Bailin, Milanaik, & Adesman, ; Denniston, Swahn, Hertz, & Romero, ; Richards, Caldwell, & Go, .). Certain patterns of media use, such as excessive screen time and exposure to sexual and other risk behaviour‐related content are associated with increased risky behaviour and problematic outcomes (Bailin et al, ; Coyne, ; Exelmans, Custers, & Van den Bulck, ). Many studies indicate that there is a strong correlation between amount of sexual content viewed on television and early initiation of sexual behaviour (Brown et al, ; Chandra et al, ).…”

Bidirectional pathways between relational aggression and temperament from late childhood to adolescence

“…Previous studies have found that poor emotion regulation, inflated self-views, certain forms of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, media exposure to relational aggression, and experiencing child abuse/maltreatment can influence youth to relationally aggress against other children (Archer & Coyne, 2005; Card et al, 2008; Cook et al, 2010; Coyne, 2015; Cullerton-Sen et al, 2008; Kawabata et al, 2011; Mayeux, 2014; Miller & Lynam, 2003; Nelson & Crick, 2002; Ojanen, Findley & Fuller, 2012; Ostrov & Houston, 2008; Tackett et al, 2014; Underwood, Beron & Rosen, 2011). In contrast, researchers have found that victims of relational aggression often lack social skills and have difficulty resolving social problems (Archer & Coyne, 2005; Champion, Vernberg, & Shipman, 2003; Cook et al, 2010), but these pathways are complex and more poorly understood than pathways to perpetration.…”

Enter the matrix: Does self-activation really matter for aggressiveness after violence exposure?

“…We also hypothesized aggressiveness increases when participants were passively exposed to media violence. Merely observing violence also increases aggressiveness in the short and long run (e.g., Anderson et al, 2003;Coyne, 2016;Gentile et al, 2011).…”