Potential Adverse Effects of Violent Video Gaming: Interpersonal- Affective Traits Are Rather Impaired Than Disinhibition in Young Adults

Abstract

The increasing trend of mass shootings, which were associated with excessive use of violent video games, fueled the debate of possible effects violent video games may have on adolescents and young adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible link between violent video gaming effects and the disposition of adverse behavior traits such as interpersonal-affective deficits and disinhibition. Data of 167 young adults, collected by an online questionnaire battery, were analyzed for lifetime video game exposure differences (i.e., non-gamers, non-violent video gamers, stopped violent video game users, and ongoing violent video game users) as well as for recent exposure effects on adverse behavior traits (Levenson’s Psychopathy Scale), while controlling for other potentially confounding lifestyle factors. While interpersonal-affective deficits were significantly higher in participants with ongoing violent video game exposure compared to non-gamers and non-violent video gamers, disinhibition was significantly higher in both – stopped and ongoing – violent video game exposure groups compared to non-gamers. Recent violent video game exposure was a stronger predictor for interpersonal-affective deficits, but was also significant for disinhibition. Considering that we observed small to medium effects in a sample of young adults with little to moderate use of violent video games highlights the importance of further investigating the potential adverse effects of violent video games on quality of social relationships.

Public Health Perspectives on eSports

“…The violence portrayed in the virtual world of games may translate into aggressive behavior and disinhibition in real-life situations. 25,26 Anyone can join the eSports community at any age, and some adolescents have expressed a desire to leave school to become eSports experts. 27,28 To prevent mental health issues, eSports team and staff members can provide social and emotional support for eSports athletes.…”

An Explanatory Model for the Relationship between Motivation in Sport, Victimization, and Video Game Use in Schoolchildren

“…By playing video games with a high content of aggressiveness, young people come to associate violence with positive emotions such as the enjoyment the game provides, which results in the young person becoming desensitized to such violent behavior [ 19 , 20 ]. For that reason, as indicated by Ditrrick et al [ 21 ] and Kimmig et al [ 22 ], constant use of these kind of video games by young people causes a fall in their levels of anxiety and fear in the face of violent situations, which in some cases causes them to lose their ability to feel empathy for victims and to identify instead with the aggressors, which in turn may bring about a greater tolerance of aggression and even engender violent behavior towards peers.…”

Motivational Climate Is Associated with Use of Video Games and Violence in Schoolchildren: A Structural Equation Model According to Healthy Behaviors

“…Prolonged use of violent videogames is associated with cognitive processes that favour violence and produce a desensitisation towards violent behaviour. In addition, the role of the aggressor as the protagonist in videogames result in users who no longer fear violent situations, identify with the aggressor rather than the victim and increasingly tolerate violent behaviour [12]. Furthermore, the abuse of smartphones, social media, and videogames is directly associated with victimisation, making subjects more susceptible to suffering violence due to the loss of social skills caused by inadequate assimilation with the peer group [13].…”