What’s New in Psychology?

The Long-Term Effect of Exposure to Violence for Young Children    

Jim Windell

            Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of studies over the last few decades have concluded that children are affected by exposure to violence on TV, movies, and video games.

           The research shows that watching violence on television and video games can have adverse effects on children and adolescents. For instance, extensive viewing of television violence can lead to increased aggressiveness in children. It’s been found that even a single exposure to a violent program can elevate aggressive behavior, especially when the violence portrayed is realistic, frequently repeated, or unpunished. Children with emotional, behavioral, learning, or impulse control issues may be particularly susceptible to these influences.

           So, do we need another study confirming what we already know?

           The answer, of course, is that it depends. For instance, it depends on whether it adds new information or if it demonstrates something we didn’t know previously.

           Thus, the results of a new study, led by Linda Pagani, Professor at the Université de Montreal’s School of Psychoeducation, show long-term associated risks of early exposure to violent content. Many previous studies looked at short-term risks when children view violence.

           Pagani and her team looked at 963 girls and 982 boys born between the springs of 1997 and 1998 who were enrolled in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. They asked parents to report on the frequency of their child’s exposure to violent television content at ages 3.5 and 4.5 years old. Boys and girls then self-reported on several aspects of antisocial behavior at age 15.

           The study defines screen violence as anything “characterized by physical aggression, verbal aggression, and relational aggression…depicting situations that intentionally attempt or cause harm to others.” Children, the study says “are attracted to fast-paced, stimulating violent content, which often features appealing characters like superheroes who commit and are rewarded for aggressive acts, thus increasing the likelihood of exposure."

           The researchers then conducted analyses to examine whether exposure to violent television content at ages 3.5 and 4.5 years predicted later antisocial behavior eleven years later. Writing in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the authors said that “We statistically took into account alternative child and family factors that could have explained our results, to be as close as possible to the truth in the relationships we were looking at.”

           The results of the study suggest that boys exposed to violent screen content in the preschool years were more likely to become antisocial and violent themselves a decade later, in their mid-teens, a new study shows. So, for boys – and not girls – being exposed to violent content in early childhood predicted later aggressive behaviors such as hitting or beating another person, with the intention of obtaining something, stealing, with or without any apparent reason.

           Risks also included threats, insults, and gang fight involvement. The use of weapons is also among the behavioral outcomes predicted by exposure to childhood television violence in this study. No effects were found for girls, which was not surprising given that boys are generally more exposed to such content.

           Pagani concluded, “Our study provides compelling evidence that early childhood exposure to media violence can have serious, long-lasting consequences, particularly for boys. This underscores the urgent need for public health initiatives that target campaigns to inform parents and communities about the long-term risks and empower them to make informed choices about young children's screen content exposure.”

           To read the original study, find it with this reference:

Pagani, L. S., Gilker Beauchamp, A., Kosak, L. A., Harandian, K., Longobardi, C., & Dubow, E. (2025). Prospective Associations Between Preschool Exposure to Violent Televiewing and Externalizing Behavior in Middle Adolescent Boys and Girls. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(1), 129.