Data file for the study from Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents' aggressive behaviour: evidence from a registered report

In this study, we investigated the extent to which adolescents who spend time playing violent video games exhibit higher levels of aggressive behaviour when compared with those who do not. A large sample of British adolescent participants (<i>n</i> = 1004) aged 14 and 15 years and an equal number of their carers were interviewed. Young people provided reports of their recent gaming experiences. Further, the violent contents of these games were coded using official E.U. and US ratings, and carers provided evaluations of their adolescents' aggressive behaviours in the past month. Following a preregistered analysis plan, multiple regression analyses tested the hypothesis that recent violent game play is linearly and positively related to carer assessments of aggressive behaviour. Results did not support this prediction, nor did they support the idea that the relationship between these factors follows a nonlinear parabolic function. There was no evidence for a critical tipping point relating violent game engagement to aggressive behaviour. Sensitivity and exploratory analyses indicated these null effects extended across multiple operationalizations of violent game engagement and when the focus was on another behavioural outcome, namely, prosocial behaviour. The discussion presents an interpretation of this pattern of effects in terms of both the ongoing scientific and policy debates around violent video games, and emerging standards for robust evidence-based policy concerning young people's technology use.

本研究旨在探究：相较于不接触暴力电子游戏的青少年，投入时间游玩暴力电子游戏的青少年是否会表现出更高水平的攻击行为。本研究招募了1004名14至15岁的英国青少年被试，并同期访谈了数量相当的青少年照料者。青少年被试报告了自身近期的游戏体验；研究团队依据欧盟（European Union）与美国（United States）官方评级体系，对这些游戏的暴力内容进行了编码标注；照料者则对其照料的青少年在过去一个月内的攻击行为表现进行了评估。按照预先注册的分析方案，本研究通过多元回归分析检验了如下假设：近期暴力电子游戏游玩时长与照料者评估的攻击行为水平呈线性正相关。研究结果未支持该假设，亦未发现二者间存在非线性抛物线型关联；未发现暴力游戏参与度与攻击行为之间存在关键临界点的相关证据。敏感性分析与探索性分析结果显示，上述零效应结果在暴力游戏参与度的多种操作化定义下均成立，且当研究聚焦于另一行为结果——亲社会行为时，该结果同样成立。本研究的讨论部分结合当前围绕暴力电子游戏展开的学术与政策辩论，以及面向青少年科技使用的稳健循证政策新兴标准，对上述效应模式进行了解读。