Bedroom media: One risk factor for development.

Mass media have numerous effects on children, ranging from influencing school performance to increased or reduced aggression. What we do not know, however, is how media availability in the bedroom moderates these effects. Although several researchers have suggested that bedroom media may influence outcomes by displacing other activities (the displacement hypothesis) or by changing the content of media consumed (the content hypothesis), these have rarely been tested directly. This study tested both hypotheses using several outcomes that are associated with bedroom media and some of the underlying mediating mechanisms. The hypotheses were tested using 3 longitudinal samples of varying methods, age, duration, and country. The results indicate that children who have bedroom media are likely to watch larger amounts of screen time which displaced important activities, such as reading and sleeping, which mediated later negative outcomes such as poor school performance. Bedroom media also influence risk for obesity and video game addiction. Children with bedroom media are also likely to be exposed to more media violence. The violent content increased normative beliefs about aggression, which increased physical aggression, providing support for the content hypothesis. This study demonstrates that media can have effects not just from what they show, but also because of what children are not exposed to. Bedroom media are therefore a robust risk factor for several aspects of child development. (PsycINFO Database Record

Moderating effects of the family environment for parental mediation and pathological internet use in youths.

Pathological Internet use (PIU) occurs when excessive Internet use results in addictive symptoms that exert detrimental consequences on one's overall functioning and well-being. Poor family functioning has been found to be associated with youths' addictive Internet use, and parental use of active and restrictive mediation has been found to reduce online risk. The current study aims to test if parental active and restrictive mediation strategies are negatively associated with youths' PIU. Additionally, it also tests the effectiveness of these strategies as a function of the broader family environment with measures of parent-child attachment, family communication, and the youth's comfort with living at home. The data of 3,079 students in Singapore were analyzed through a series of logistic regressions. The results revealed that the family environment for students with PIU was significantly less positive. Only restrictive mediation was found to be negatively associated with PIU. This relation was stronger for higher levels of attachment, communication, and comfort at home, implying that the effectiveness of restrictive mediation varies with the degree of warmth and support in the general family environment. The implications are discussed.

Impulsivity, self-regulation,and pathological video gaming among youth: testing a mediation model.

Given the potential negative mental health consequences of pathological video gaming, understanding its etiology may lead to useful treatment developments. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of impulsive and regulatory processes on pathological video gaming. Study 1 involved 2154 students from 6 primary and 4 secondary schools in Singapore. Study 2 involved 191 students from 2 secondary schools. The results of study 1 and study 2 supported the hypothesis that self-regulation is a mediator between impulsivity and pathological video gaming. Specifically, higher levels of impulsivity was related to lower levels of self-regulation, which in turn was related to higher levels of pathological video gaming. The use of impulsivity and self-regulation in predicting pathological video gaming supports the dual-system model of incorporating both impulsive and reflective systems in the prediction of self-control outcomes. The study highlights the development of self-regulatory resources as a possible avenue for future prevention and treatment research.

Parental mediation and cyberbullying - a longitudinal study.

Parents use active and restrictive mediation strategies to guide and regulate children's online participation and the online risks they encounter. However, changes in parental mediation do occur over time and the effectiveness of these strategies on cyberbullying demands for further empirical investigation. The current study addresses these issues with a sample of 1084 students (49% girls) in a longitudinal, three-wave design. Gender differences were tested via multi-group analyses. Longitudinal growth models showed that parental use of both active and restrictive mediation decreased over time. For both types of mediation, the mean rate of change had a significant effect on boys' engagement in cyberbullying, but not for girls. Initial levels of restrictive mediation, but not active mediation, were found to be significantly predictive of cyberbullying in both genders. Girls had higher initial levels of both parental mediation types in comparison to boys. The results reveal that the effectiveness of active and restrictive mediation in relation to students' cyberbullying differs and informs us on gender differences. The implications of these results for parental education in online mediation are discussed.

Mediators and moderators of long-term effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior: practice, thinking, and action.

IMPORTANCE: Although several longitudinal studies have demonstrated an effect of violent video game play on later aggressive behavior, little is known about the psychological mediators and moderators of the effect. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether cognitive and/or emotional variables mediate the effect of violent video game play on aggression and whether the effect is moderated by age, sex, prior aggressiveness, or parental monitoring. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Three-year longitudinal panel study. A total of 3034 children and adolescents from 6 primary and 6 secondary schools in Singapore (73% male) were surveyed annually. Children were eligible for inclusion if they attended one of the 12 selected schools, 3 of which were boys' schools. At the beginning of the study, participants were in third, fourth, seventh, and eighth grades, with a mean (SD) age of 11.2 (2.1) years (range, 8-17 years). Study participation was 99% in year 1. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The final outcome measure was aggressive behavior, with aggressive cognitions (normative beliefs about aggression, hostile attribution bias, aggressive fantasizing) and empathy as potential mediators. RESULTS: Longitudinal latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that the effects of violent video game play are mediated primarily by aggressive cognitions. This effect is not moderated by sex, prior aggressiveness, or parental monitoring and is only slightly moderated by age, as younger children had a larger increase in initial aggressive cognition related to initial violent game play at the beginning of the study than older children. Model fit was excellent for all models. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Given that more than 90% of youths play video games, understanding the psychological mechanisms by which they can influence behaviors is important for parents and pediatricians and for designing interventions to enhance or mitigate the effects.

Long-term relations among prosocial-media use, empathy, and prosocial behavior.

Despite recent growth of research on the effects of prosocial media, processes underlying these effects are not well understood. Two studies explored theoretically relevant mediators and moderators of the effects of prosocial media on helping. Study 1 examined associations among prosocial- and violent-media use, empathy, and helping in samples from seven countries. Prosocial-media use was positively associated with helping. This effect was mediated by empathy and was similar across cultures. Study 2 explored longitudinal relations among prosocial-video-game use, violent-video-game use, empathy, and helping in a large sample of Singaporean children and adolescents measured three times across 2 years. Path analyses showed significant longitudinal effects of prosocial- and violent-video-game use on prosocial behavior through empathy. Latent-growth-curve modeling for the 2-year period revealed that change in video-game use significantly affected change in helping, and that this relationship was mediated by change in empathy.

Examining the influence of actual-ideal self-discrepancies, depression, and escapism, on pathological gaming among massively multiplayer online adolescent gamers.

This study examined whether actual-ideal self-discrepancy (AISD) is related to pathological gaming through escapism as a means of reducing depression for adolescent massively multiplayer online gamers. A Discrepancy-reduction Motivation model of pathological video gaming was tested. A survey was conducted on 161 adolescent gamers from secondary schools. Two mediation effects were tested using path analysis: (a) depression would mediate the relationship between AISDs and escapism, and (b) escapism would mediate the relationship between depression and pathological gaming. Results support the hypotheses stated above. The indirect effects of both AISD and depression were significant on pathological gaming. AISD and escapism also had direct effects on pathological gaming. The present study suggests that pathological behaviors may be over-regulated coping strategies of approaching the ideal self and avoiding the actual self.

Pathological video game use among youths: a two-year longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to measure the prevalence and length of the problem of pathological video gaming or Internet use, to identify risk and protective factors, to determine whether pathological gaming is a primary or secondary problem, and to identify outcomes for individuals who become or stop being pathological gamers. METHODS: A 2-year, longitudinal, panel study was performed with a general elementary and secondary school population in Singapore, including 3034 children in grades 3 (N = 743), 4 (N = 711), 7 (N = 916), and 8 (N = 664). Several hypothesized risk and protective factors for developing or overcoming pathological gaming were measured, including weekly amount of game play, impulsivity, social competence, depression, social phobia, anxiety, and school performance. RESULTS: The prevalence of pathological gaming was similar to that in other countries (∼9%). Greater amounts of gaming, lower social competence, and greater impulsivity seemed to act as risk factors for becoming pathological gamers, whereas depression, anxiety, social phobias, and lower school performance seemed to act as outcomes of pathological gaming. CONCLUSION: This study adds important information to the discussion about whether video game "addiction" is similar to other addictive behaviors, demonstrating that it can last for years and is not solely a symptom of comorbid disorders.

Pathological video-gaming among Singaporean youth.

INTRODUCTION: Increase in internet use and video-gaming contributes to public concern on pathological or obsessive play of video games among children and adolescents worldwide. Nevertheless, little is known about the prevalence of pathological symptoms in video-gaming among Singaporean youth and the psychometric properties of instruments measuring pathological symptoms in video-gaming. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 2998 children and adolescents from 6 primary and 6 secondary schools in Singapore responded to a comprehensive survey questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, video-gaming habits, school performance, somatic symptoms, various psychological traits, social functioning and pathological symptoms of video-gaming. After weighting, the survey data were analysed to determine the prevalence of pathological video-gaming among Singaporean youth and gender differences in the prevalence. The construct validity of instrument used to measure pathological symptoms of video-gaming was tested. RESULTS: Of all the study participants, 8.7% were classified as pathological players with more boys reporting more pathological symptoms than girls. All variables, including impulse control problem, social competence, hostility, academic performance, and damages to social functioning, tested for construct validity, were significantly associated with pathological status, providing good evidence for the construct validity of the instrument used. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of pathological video-gaming among Singaporean youth is comparable with that from other countries studied thus far, and gender differences are also consistent with the findings of prior research. The positive evidence of construct validity supports the potential use of the instrument for future research and clinical screening on Singapore children and adolescents' pathological video-gaming.

The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: international evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies.

Although dozens of studies have documented a relationship between violent video games and aggressive behaviors, very little attention has been paid to potential effects of prosocial games. Theoretically, games in which game characters help and support each other in nonviolent ways should increase both short-term and long-term prosocial behaviors. We report three studies conducted in three countries with three age groups to test this hypothesis. In the correlational study, Singaporean middle-school students who played more prosocial games behaved more prosocially. In the two longitudinal samples of Japanese children and adolescents, prosocial game play predicted later increases in prosocial behavior. In the experimental study, U.S. undergraduates randomly assigned to play prosocial games behaved more prosocially toward another student. These similar results across different methodologies, ages, and cultures provide robust evidence of a prosocial game content effect, and they provide support for the General Learning Model.

Passion and intrinsic motivation in digital gaming.

Digital gaming is fast becoming a favorite activity all over the world. Yet very few studies have examined the underlying motivational processes involved in digital gaming. One motivational force that receives little attention in psychology is passion, which could help us understand the motivation of gamers. The purpose of the present study was to identify subgroups of young people with distinctive passion profiles on self-determined regulations, flow dispositions, affect, and engagement time in gaming. One hundred fifty-five students from two secondary schools in Singapore participated in the survey. There were 134 males and 8 females (13 unspecified). The participants completed a questionnaire to measure harmonious passion (HP), obsessive passion (OP), perceived locus of causality, disposition flow, positive and negative affects, and engagement time in gaming. Cluster analysis found three clusters with distinct passion profiles. The first cluster had an average HP/OP profile, the second cluster had a low HP/OP profile, and the third cluster had a high HP/OP profile. The three clusters displayed different levels of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. Cluster analysis, as this study shows, is useful in identifying groups of gamers with different passion profiles. It has helped us gain a deeper understanding of motivation in digital gaming.

Factors influencing adolescents engagement in risky Internet behavior.

The present study used data from the SAFT (Safety, Awareness, Facts and Tools) Singapore survey, a national survey of 1,124 youths aged 12-17, to explore the issue of risk on the Internet. We investigated factors that influence adolescents' engagement in risky Internet behavior, in particular, meeting face-to-face someone they first encountered online. The adolescents ranged from ages 12 to 17, with a mean of 14.32 (SD = 1.37); 49.6% of the adolescents were girls. The study utilized a 93-item survey that was part of the SAFT Project. Results indicated that 16% of adolescent Internet users in Singapore have had a face-to-face meeting with someone first encountered online. The following factors were found to be predictors of adolescents engagement in such face-to-face meetings: age, frequency of Internet use, frequency of chatting and gaming behavior, parental rules, type of personal information given out, amount of inappropriate messages received, whether inappropriate websites have been visited, and type of internet advice heard. Implications of the results are discussed.