Viewing preferences, symptoms of psychological trauma, and violent behaviors among children who watch television

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which children's television-viewing practices are associated with symptoms of psychological trauma and aggressive behaviors. The following three hypotheses were tested: (1) children who report watching greater amounts of television per day will report higher levels of trauma symptoms than children who report lesser amounts of television viewing; (2) children who report watching greater amounts of television per day will report higher levels of violent behaviors than children who report watching lesser amounts of television per day; and (3) children who report a preference for action and fighting programs will report higher levels of violent behaviors than children who report a preference for other types of television programs. METHOD: The study used a survey design in which an anonymous self-report questionnaire was administered to students in grades 3 through 8 in 11 Ohio public schools during the 1995-1996 school year (N = 2,245). RESULTS: All three hypotheses were supported. CONCLUSION: Heavy television viewing by children may indicate the presence of problems such as depression, anxiety, and violent behaviors; such viewing should be screened for by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals working with children.     

Violence with a conscience: Religiosity and moral certainty as predictors of support for violent warfare.

Objective: Emerging research on the moral licensing effect implies that increasing a person's moral certainty may decrease concerns about the moral consequences of violent warfare. Therefore, if religion increases moral certainty, then it may also contribute to support for violent warfare. The present experiment tested the extent to which religion's contribution to moral certainty explains participants' support for the United States' war in the Middle East. Method: Ninety-three predominantly Catholic and Protestant participants from a university setting completed the present study. The study was completed across two separate days. On the first day of the experiment, individual differences in a variety of types of religiosity (e.g., prayer), and moral certainty were measured. On the second day of the experiment, the perception that the United States' war in the Middle East is a religious or geopolitical conflict was experimentally manipulated, and support for violent warfare was measured. Results: Regression analyses and an analysis of variance yielded support for the moral certainty hypothesis. As predicted, greater religiosity relates to greater moral certainty, and greater moral certainty strengthens the (positive) relation between religiosity and support for violent warfare. Furthermore, moral certainty is a stronger predictor of support for violent warfare in religious conflict than it is in geopolitical conflict. Conclusion: The results support the moral certainty hypothesis and suggest that stronger moral certainty (1) predicts greater support for violent warfare, (2) is an underlying moderator of the relation between religiosity and support for violent warfare, and (3) is particularly influential in religious conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of long-term exposure to violent and sexually degrading depictions of women.

Investigated the effects of emotional desensitization to films of violence against women and the effects of sexually degrading explicit and nonexplicit films on beliefs about rape and the sexual objectification of women. Males viewed either 2 or 5 R-rated violent "slasher," X-rated nonviolent "pornographic," or R-rated nonviolent teenage-oriented ("teen sex") films. Affective reactions and cognitive perceptions were measured after each exposure. Later, these men and no-exposure control Ss completed a voir dire questionnaire, viewed a reenacted acquaintance or nonacquaintance sexual assault trial, and judged the defendant and alleged rape victim. Ss in the violent condition became less anxious and depressed and showed declines in negative affective responses. They were also less sympathetic to the victim and less empathetic toward rape victims in general. However, longer film exposure was necessary to affect general empathy. There were no differences in response between the R-rated teen sex film and the X-rated, sexually explicit, nonviolent film, and the no-exposure control conditions on the objectification or the rape trial variables. A model of desensitization to media violence and the carryover to decision making about victims is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychophysiology of James Bond: Phasic emotional responses to violent video game events.

The authors examined emotional valence- and arousal-related phasic psychophysiological responses to different violent events in the first-person shooter video game "James Bond 007: NightFire" among 36 young adults. Event-related changes in zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii, and orbicularis oculi electromyographic (EMG) activity and skin conductance level (SCL) were recorded, and the participants rated their emotions and the trait psychoticism based on the Psychoticism dimension of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Revised, Short Form. Wounding and killing the opponent elicited an increase in SCL and a decrease in zygomatic and orbicularis oculi EMG activity. The decrease in zygomatic and orbicularis oculi activity was less pronounced among high Psychoticism scorers compared with low Psychoticism scorers. The wounding and death of the player's own character (James Bond) elicited an increase in SCL and zygomatic and orbicularis oculi EMG activity and a decrease in corrugator activity. Instead of joy resulting from victory and success, wounding and killing the opponent may elicit high-arousal negative affect (anxiety), with high Psychoticism scorers experiencing less anxiety than low Psychoticism scorers. Although counterintuitive, the wounding and death of the player's own character may increase some aspect of positive emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiation of visibility and alcohol as contributors to twilight road fatalities

Elevated road fatality rates at night involve multiple variables, each of which contributes to an unknown degree. In order to determine the relative contributions of reduced visibility and drivers' consumption of alcohol, we performed two quasi-experiments analyzing data recorded by the U.S. Fatal Accident Reporting System from 1980 through 1990. The results confirmed that both variables play a major role in nighttime road fatalities and revealed new evidence that they contribute differentially to two classes of fatal collisions: Degraded visibility in low illumination is associated primarily with collisions involving pedestrians and pedalcyclists, whereas drivers' consumption of alcohol plays a larger role in other fatal collisions.     

Similarity of prior trauma exposure as a determinant of chronic stress responding to an airline disaster.

The cumulative effects of trauma were examined in 108 workers at the site of a major air disaster at 4 time points over a year following the crash. The influence of trauma history on chronic distress and physiological arousal associated with the crash were examined. Stress levels were expected to differ on the basis of the similarity of prior trauma exposure to work at the crash site. Prior traumatic exposure that was "dissimilar" to this type of work was associated with greater vulnerability to crash-related stress, that is, more distress and crash-related intrusions during the year following the crash. Accumulation of a variety of different traumatic experiences appeared to sensitize workers to the new stressor and to perpetuate chronic stress. Understanding the role of trauma history is important for improving intervention efforts aimed at alleviating stress following a trauma. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of initial trauma exposure on the symptomatic response to a subsequent trauma.

The effect of initial trauma on the symptomatic response to a subsequent trauma was investigated in a cross-sectional study of urban bus drivers. Comparisons were made among 175 drivers (mean age 42.2 yrs) who had developed either high or low symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the initial trauma, and a third group exposed to only a single trauma. The group with high levels Of PTSD symptoms after the initial trauma reported high PTSD symptoms for a subsequent trauma (75%) significantly more often than the other two groups who did not differ from each other (Low PTSD symptoms group 49%, No prior trauma group 41 %). These results suggest that unless trauma exposure leads to significant PTSD symptoms, it is not a risk factor for high PTSD symptoms after exposure to a subsequent traumatic event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring of classroom behaviors with students exhibiting emotional and behavioral challenges.

Examined the effectiveness of a self-monitoring package (SMP) on the task engagement and disruptive behaviors of 2 elementary school children (10-yr-old female and 11-yr-old male). Ss received full-time special education services for students with severe emotional disturbance. This SMP was comprised of periodic cuing, self-recording of individually-determined target behaviors, feedback, and reinforcement for accurate self-monitoring. Results indicated that SMP was highly effective in increasing task engagement while decreasing disruptive behavior. Data add to the growing testimony regarding the utility of self-monitoring and SMPs as effective and proactive components of behavioral support for students with emotional and behavioral challenges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of emotional exhaustion to work attitudes, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors.

The authors investigated the negative consequences of emotional exhaustion for individual employees and their employers. On the basis of social exchange theory, the authors proposed that emotional exhaustion would predict job performance, 2 classes of organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intentions. In addition, the authors posited that the relationship between emotional exhaustion and effective work behaviors would be mediated by organizational commitment. With only a few exceptions, the results of 2 field studies supported the authors' expectations. In addition, emotional exhaustion exerted an independent effect on these criterion variables beyond the impact of age, gender, and ethnicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Countertransference issues in the assessment and treatment of trauma recovery with victims of violent crime.

This article examines countertransference in the assessment and treatment of recovery from traumatic incidents of adulthood, with specific focus on victims of violent crime. It reviews Freud's impediment theory, with particular attention to implications concerning empathic strain and vicarious traumatization. It introduces Wilson and Lindy's Type I Countertransference (avoidance), Type II Countertransference (overidentification), and their respective manifestations. It then proposes a Type III Countertransference (communicative) that applies a more totalistic perspective that utilizes concepts of splitting, projection, projective identification, and intersubjectivity. It differentiates between countertransference orientations to trauma that are content-based or processed-based as well as those that may be figure or ground. Finally, it presents some common countertransference reactions and roles that become enacted and therefore have treatment implications, examines the interaction between therapeutic and real relationships as contributors to those scenarios, and presents case examples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desensitization and resensitization to violence against women: Effects of exposure to sexually violent films on judgments of domestic violence victims.

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of repeated exposure to sexually violent films on emotional desensitization and callousness toward domestic abuse victims. Results indicated that emotional response, self-reported physiological arousal, and ratings of the extent to which the films were sexually violent all diminished with repeated film exposure. Three days following exposure to the final film, experimental participants expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims, and rated their injuries as less severe, than did a no-exposure comparison group. Five days after the final film exposure, their level of sensitivity to the domestic violence victims had rebounded to baseline levels established by the comparison group. Emotional responsiveness at the final film exposure was correlated with levels of sensitivity to the domestic violence victims 3 days later but not at subsequent observation points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intellectual performance as related to emotional instability in children.

Two groups of children, individually paired or matched for all factors save emotional stability, are compared for their performances on the Revised Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale and the Cornell-Coxe Performance Ability Scale. The areas of difference found between groups are neither broad nor manifold, but they do indicate that children with personality dysfunction do not perform intellectually in the same manner as those with more healthy personalities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of emotional engagement and habituation on exposure therapy for PTSD.

This study examined 2 process variables, emotional engagement and habituation, and outcome of exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Thirty-seven female assault victims received treatment that involved repeated imaginal reliving of their trauma, and rated their distress at 10-min intervals. The average distress levels during each of 6 exposure sessions were submitted to a cluster analysis. Three distinct groups of clients with different patterns of distress were found: high initial engagement and gradual habituation between sessions, high initial engagement without habituation, and moderate initial engagement without habituation. Clients with the 1st distress pattern improved more in treatment than the other clients. The results are discussed within the framework of emotional processing theory, emphasizing the crucial role of emotional engagement and habituation in exposure therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal relations between children's exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992.

Although the relation between TV-violence viewing and aggression in childhood has been clearly demonstrated, only a few studies have examined this relation from childhood to adulthood, and these studies of children growing up in the 1960s reported significant relations only for boys. The current study examines the longitudinal relations between TV-violence viewing at ages 6 to 10 and adult aggressive behavior about 15 years later for a sample growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. Follow-up archival data (N=450) and interview data (N=329) reveal that childhood exposure to media violence predicts young adult aggressive behavior for both males and females. Identification with aggressive TV characters and perceived realism of TV violence also predict later aggression. These relations persist even when the effects of socioeconomic status, intellectual ability, and a variety of parenting factors are controlled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived physical and emotional trauma as precipitating events in fibromyalgia. Associations with health care seeking and disability status but not pain severity

The spectrophotometry and photofluorescence techniques were used in the studies on photochemical transformations of lactate dehydrogenase exposed to UV irradiation with a dose of 2.25 kJ/m2, in the native state and in the presence of exogenous modifiers: sodium azide, beta-carotene, histidine, D-mannitol, and tret-butanol. It was shown that UV irradiation of the mixtures of lactate dehydrogenase with sodium azide, beta-carotene, and histidine results in restoration (by 99, 65, and 63%, respectively) of the level of catalytic activity of the enzyme as compared to that observed after irradiating it in the absence of the protectors. The protective effect provided by mannitol during UV irradiation of the lactate dehydrogenase was 23%. Thus, it was shown that active oxygen species--singlet molecular oxygen and hydroxyl radical--make significant contributions to photomodification of lactate dehydrogenase.     

Display variability and spatial organization as contributors to the pigeon's discrimination of complex visual stimuli.

Three experiments assessed the contributions of display variability and spatial organization to the pigeon's discrimination of 16-icon visual displays. After training to discriminate 4?×?4 arrays of same and different computer icons, 4 pigeons were shown testing displays that systematically manipulated the variability of the depicted icons and their spatial organization on the display screen. Display variability and spatial organization each reliably controlled the pigeon's behavior. These seemingly separate effects could be collectively explained by the pigeon's discriminating the amount of variability or entropy in localized regions of the display. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic matching, response mode, and response mapping as contributors to retroactive and proactive priming.

Two experiments examined proactive and retroactive semantic priming with reported 50-msec primes in 6 target tasks: standard and go/no-go versions of manual lexical decision, vocal lexical decision, and pronunciation. In go/no-go tasks, responses were made only to words. No task differences were found in retroactive priming, which might be a form of proactive priming. Standard manual lexical decision showed more proactive priming, perhaps reflecting response mapping. Go/no-go versions of pronunciation and manual lexical decision showed similar priming, suggesting that semantic matching biases the lexical decision rather than the overt response. Latencies suggested response interference in vocal lexical decision. Exp 3, which included 200-msec primes, did not require prime report. Responses were generally faster, but priming was lower and showed a complex pattern. The tasks tap different underlying processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The prepared emotional reflex: Intentional preparation of automatic approach and avoidance tendencies as a means to regulate emotional responding.

Advance preparation of action courses toward emotional stimuli is an effective means to regulate impulsive emotional behavior. Our experiment shows that performing intentional acts of approach and avoidance in an evaluation task influences the unintended activation of approach and avoidance tendencies in another task in which stimulus valence is irrelevant. For the evaluation-relevant blocks, participants received either congruent (positive-approach, negative-avoidance) or incongruent (positive-avoidance, negative-approach) mapping instructions. In the evaluation-irrelevant blocks, approach- and avoidance-related lever movements were selected in response to a stimulus feature other than valence (affective Simon task). Response mapping in the evaluation task influenced performance in the evaluation-irrelevant task: An enhanced affective Simon effect was observed with congruent mapping instructions; in contrast, the effect was reversed when the evaluation task required incongruent responses. Thus, action instructions toward affective stimuli received in one task determined affective response tendencies in another task where these instructions were not in effect. These findings suggest that intentionally prepared short-term links between affective valence and motor responses elicit associated responses without a deliberate act of will, operating like a “prepared reflex.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)