Exploring the Mediating Effect of Psychological Engagement on the Relationship between Child-to-Parent Violence and Violent Video Games.

Ana Ruiz-Fernández,David Cantón-Cortés,Miriam Junco-Guerrero

doi:10.3390/ijerph18062845

Ana Ruiz-Fernández, David Cantón-Cortés + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062845

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Abstract

Research into the effects of violent video games on levels of aggression has raised concerns that they may pose a significant social risk, especially among younger people. The objective of this study was to analyze, through structural equation models, the mediating role of psychological engagement in the relationship between the consumption of violent video games and child-to-parent violence (CPV) against the mother and the father. The sample consisted of 916 students from the third and fourth grades of compulsory secondary education, first and second grades of high school, and first cycle of vocational training (483 males and 433 females), of whom a total of 628 were video game players, aged between 13 and 19. The exposure to video games was assessed through an author-elaborated questionnaire, engagement was evaluated with the game engagement questionnaire, and CPV was assessed through the child-to-parent aggression questionnaire. The structural equation models indicated that exposure to violent video games was related to lower rates of CPV against both parents. Conversely, the flow (a sense of being in control, being one with activity, and experiencing distortions in the perception of time) dimension of engagement positively correlated with the level of CPV against the mother, whereas the flow and absorption (total engagement in the current experience) dimensions correlated with CPV against the father. In conclusion, the results confirm the role of violent video game consumption, reducing CPV rates against both parents, a role that is offset to the extent that these violent games provoke engagement in the user.

Highlights

Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is a type of domestic violence, performed by a child or adolescent against their parents, involving physical, psychological, and/or economic harm or abuse [1]
We found that the consumption of violent video games is strongly associated with lower CPV rates
Less relevant, it was found that, to the extent that playing such video games provokes a sense of flow, it may counteract the protective role of violent video games against CPV

Summary

Introduction

Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is a type of domestic violence, performed by a child or adolescent against their parents, involving physical, psychological, and/or economic harm or abuse [1]. Psychological damage refers to verbal and nonverbal behavior, in which the child intends to break the psycho-emotional balance of their parents, carrying out behaviors such as frightening the parents, intimidating or performing emotional blackmail, even threatening to commit suicide or leave home. There is no scientific consensus about the incidence of CPV, according to studies in the legal context, it has increased in recent years. Oliva [2] reports a series of data at the national level in Spain, comparing the number of cases of assault by minors on their families in 2006 and 2010.

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