Playing violent video games makes children aggressive, researchers reveal.
A team of researchers from Brock University in Canada looked at nearly 1,500 adolescents, both boys (49 percent) and girls (51 percent) studying in eight high schools in Ontario and aged between 14 or 15 at the beginning of the study and 17 and 18 at the end.
The research suggests that long-term players of violent games may react aggressively to unintentional provocations, something as harmless as someone accidentally bumping into them.
The results were "concerning" and they felt the games could "reinforce the notion that aggression is an effective and appropriate way to deal with conflict and anger." This hostile behavior was not restricted to the boys. Girls who played the games were found to be affected just as much as the young boys.
All the participants took part in four surveys and answered questions that dealt with kicking, pushing or shoving someone when they become angry. Apart from that, they also shared details about playing action or fighting video games and the frequency.
The findings didn't vary even after taking into consideration other factors associated with aggression like parental divorce, marijuana use and gender.
"The current study is the first to demonstrate a relation between sustained violent video game play and the progression of aggressive behavior," lead researcher Professor Teena Willoughby told Daily Mail.
"It is clear that there is a long-term association between violent video games and aggression. This is an important and concerning finding, particularly in light of the hours that youth spend playing these games."
Results of the study have been published in the Developmental Psychology. Apart from previous studies, some incidents have found the negative impact of video games on children's behavior.
Earlier this year, a four-year-old Saudi boy shot his father in the head when he returned home without a play station videogame console that he wanted.
Apart from the shocking incident, playing video game was the secret behind the shooting skills of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian mass killer accused of murdering 77 people in Norway. He improved his shooting skills by playing "Modern Warfare" and "World of Warcraft."
