Only
certain adolescents (those with the greatest number of risk factors) with
psychological disorders such as depression or anger displacement are
susceptible to the negative consequences of playing violent video games. Highly
aggressive boys have been shown to prefer violent video games but research has
shown that video games are the least dangerous of all forms of entertainment
violence. Family situations such as low parental involvement, low self-esteem,
and poor academic performance have all been linked to aggression in
teenagers. Many low-income
families cannot afford game consoles and the teenagers from those families who
usually do commit violent crimes are not gamers.Teenagers
who are not seventeen or older (M rating guideline) who do play violent video
games do tend to react with hostility after playing these types of games for a
long period of time.
Studies have shown that in early age adolescents,
excessive synapse connections may limit the prefrontal cortex’s ability to
process and gauge situations. This is why it is very important for parents to
play an active role in supervising young teenagers if the parent’s themselves
choose to purchase these type of video games for their young teenagers. Also,
academic underachievers who play video war games for short periods of time tend
to react in hostile ways that could result in delinquent behavior. This is
linked to the war games being action-packed games where emotions are elevated
and the rapid ending of a game causes too much stress and imbalanced emotions
for the younger teenager. Teenagers who have Attention Deficit Hyperactive
Disorder might also be predisposed to reacting physically in a hostile manner
after playing video war games if they find the game emotionally too stressful.
