Media violence exposure in aggressive and control adolescents: differences in self- and parent-reported exposure to violence on television and in video games

The purpose of present study was to investigate differences in media violence exposure between groups of adolescents with and without Disruptive Behavior Disorders with Aggressive Features, using a case-controlled design and multimethod assessment. Samples of 27 adolescents aged 13-17 with Disruptive Behavior Disorder with Aggressive Features and 27 age-gender-IQ matched controls completed a semistructured interview about exposure to violence on television and video games; parents completed a corresponding questionnaire measure. Moderate intercorrelations were found between most self- and parent-report television and video game violence exposure measures. Compared to control adolescents, adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorder with Aggressive Features had higher aggregate media violence exposure, higher exposure to video game violence, and higher parent-reported exposure to television violence. Results show that adolescents and parents agree about the adolescent's level of media violence exposure, that exposure to violence on television tends to be accompanied by exposure to violence in video games, and that the association between media violence exposure and Disruptive Behavior Disorder with Aggressive Features is not due to a spurious effect of gender or IQ. Aggr. Behav. 31:000–000, 2005.