Cultural generality versus specificity of media violence effects on aggression was examined in seven countries (Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Romania, the United States). Participants reported aggressive behaviors, media use habits, and several other known risk and protective factors for aggression. Across nations, exposure to violent screen media was positively associated with aggression. This effect was partially mediated by aggressive cognitions and empathy. The media violence effect on aggression remained significant even after statistically controlling a number of relevant risk and protective factors (e.g., abusive parenting, peer delinquency), and was similar in magnitude to effects of other risk factors. In support of the cumulative risk model, joint effects of different risk factors on aggressive behavior in each culture were larger than effects of any individual risk factor.

Players’ use of video games to cope with stress and anxiety may be an important etiological factor in video game addiction. The present research tests the hypothesis that people with greater anxiety and who use video games as a means of coping with that anxiety are more prone to video game addiction. The hypothesis was tested in 2 survey studies using undergraduate samples. Study 1 found that using video games as a means of coping with setbacks or stress uniquely predicted video game addiction symptoms, even after controlling for frequency of gameplay and other maladaptive coping mechanisms. Serial mediation analysis provided evidence that anxiety associated with mental illness may prompt greater use of video games as a coping mechanism, something which, in turn, is associated with greater video game addiction. Study 2 replicated this serial mediation model. Although limited in their ability to infer causal direction, the studies do suggest the importance of assessing the role of player motivation in future studies about video game addiction, which may help clinicians and media researchers better understand the etiology and potential treatment of video game addiction.

Psychological scientists have long sought to determine the relative impact of environmental influences over development and behavior in comparison with the impact of personal, dispositional, or genetic influences. This has included significant interest in the role played by media in children's development with a good deal of emphasis on how violent media spark and shape aggressive behavior in children and adolescents. Despite a variety of methodological weaknesses in his meta-analysis, Ferguson (2015, this issue) presents evidence to support the positive association between violent media consumption and a number of poor developmental outcomes. In this Commentary we discuss this meta-analytic work and how it fits into a broader understanding of human development.

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