Ferguson. 2010. Video Games and Youth Violence: A Prospective Analysis in Adolescents


Ferguson, Christopher J. “Video Games and Youth Violence: A Prospective Analysis in                           Adolescents.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40, no. 4 (December 14, 2010): 377–91.             https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9610-x.

Keywords: Computer games - Mass media - Aggression - Violence - adolescence

This study found that there is little evidence to support that violent video games can predict violent behavior. They did find however, that subjects displaying anti-social behavior were more likely to consume violent media. They argue that this has two possible explanations, either children with preexisting violent behavior prefer violent video games, or violent video games while effectless on their own, can bring out violent behaviors in already violent children. The study also found that the highest correlating factor to violence was not violent video game consumption but the existence of depressive symptoms.
Participants were recruited from a previous study on violence, 536 children were selected from the original 603 mainly hispanic sample of children. The study of this article does not overlap with the previous study. Hispanics were not selected for any real purpose, they were just the main population of the city selected for the study. All subjects were between 10-14 years old and were about equal parts girls and boys. Subjects for the initial study were recruited by random college students nominating friends and family and radio ads catering to english and spanish. Subjects were asked to rate their top 3 favourite video games and TV shows, and were listed by their ESRB rating. The amount of time the subjects played the games was also recorded. These were compared to a survey asking the same subjects about their exposure to negative life events.
This study seems to be a widely cited article, being cited by 237 other articles. It offers very good evidence for video games not being tied to violence, but also offers data for what else might contribute to that violence. It might be interesting to look at the connection between violence and causes other than video games, and why those causes are ruled out in favour of video games.

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