The effect of violent video game playing on bullying in low-income urban neighborhoods: A serial mediation model

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present research aimed to examine the serial multiple mediation role of deviant peer affiliation and victimization in the link between violent video game playing and bullying in a low-income neighborhood. A sample of 378 early adolescents between 12 and 14 years of age (M = 13.24, SD = .65) was recruited from three public middle schools in a low-income urban neighborhood in west Turkey. Participants completed self-report measures of violent video game playing, deviant peer affiliation, victimization, and bullying. Specific and total indirect effects were estimated using AMOS user-defined estimands. Results indicated that violent video game playing was directly and positively associated with early adolescents’ bullying. Additionally, deviant peer affiliation and victimization sequentially mediated the relationship between violent video game playing and bullying. Findings provide a novel comprehensive model of how violent video game playing can be linked with early adolescents’ bullying through serial mechanisms in low-income neighborhoods.