Violence And Viewing

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Roy B. White, Rebecca Winters

Teens and young adults who watch more than an hour a day of TELEVISION are four times as likely to engage in AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR as those who watch less, according to a study published in the journal Science. The report, which followed 707 individuals over 17 years, is the first to link TV viewing in adolescence to ADULT aggression. Researchers found that 29% of 14-year-olds who watched TV for more than three hours a day went on to commit violent acts in their late teens and early 20s. Still unclear is whether TV causes the behavior or whether other factors linked with heavy TV viewing, such as unemployment, play a role.