Serious Youth Violence & Long-term Use of Violent Media

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The overarching goal of the proposed research is to advance our understanding of how exposure to and engagement in violent media relates to severe aggressive, violent, and criminal behavior in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Specifically, we will explore the role of prior exposure to media violence on subsequent serious aggressive and violent behavior in the following populations: Incarcerated juvenile delinquents residing in county and state facilities; juvenile delinquents enrolled in county day treatment and diversion programs; preschool and kindergarten students attending schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities; high school seniors attending schools in similarly disadvantaged communities; incarcerated violent and nonviolent adult offenders residing in a state penitentiary; and two normative groups of individuals enrolled in long-term prospective longitudinal studies that began when the individuals were in middle childhood and since have continued into middle adulthood. The proposed investigation will target several specific aims: 1) First, we will examine the association between serious violent and criminal behavior in adolescent delinquent and young adult criminal populations and their concurrent and prior exposure to violent media. 2) Second, we will investigate the association between violent and potentially criminal behavior in at-risk youth populations and their concurrent and prior exposure to violent media. 3) Third, using two existing longitudinal data sets, we will study the long-term prediction of early and middle adulthood violent and criminal behavior from childhood exposure to violent media. 4) Fourth, within each of our samples, we will analyze the individual, contextual, viewing, and programming factors likely to moderate the strength of the relation between exposure to media violence and serious violent behavior. 5) Finally, we will investigate the over-time mediation of aggressive and violent behavior by social-cognitive factors linked to exposure to violent media. The results of this investigation will contribute critical information to our understanding of the relation between childhood, adolescent, and adult media violence exposure and concurrent and subsequent serious aggression, violence, antisocial and criminal behaviors.