Effect of Video Games on Children's Aggressive Behavior and Pro-social Behavior: A Panel Study with Elementary School Students

We conducted a panel study with elementary school students in order to examine the effect of video games on children. We conducted two surveys, and measured the amount of use of video games, exposure to certain types of scenes, and preference for types of games as "video game variables," and also measured the level of aggressive behavior and pro-social behavior as "dependent variables." The result of cross-lagged effect model analysis suggested that for boys pro-social behavior was suppressed more as they used video games more. Also, for all participants and for boys, their pro-social behavior was promoted more as they were exposed to more pro-social scenes, or they indicated stronger preference for non-violent games, while their pro-social behavior was suppressed more as they indicated stronger preference for violent games. Author