Viewing Movie Violence & Interest in Guns
- Conditions
- Psychology, SocialAdolescent Behavior
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Movies with Guns
- Registration Number
- NCT03220412
- Lead Sponsor
- Ohio State University
- Brief Summary
More American children die by accidental gun use than children in other developed countries. One factor that can influence children's interest in guns is exposure to media containing guns. The objective of this study is to test whether children who see a movie containing guns will handle a real gun longer and will pull the trigger more times than children who see the same movie without guns.
- Detailed Description
A recent analysis of top selling films found that the depiction of guns in violent scenes in PG-13 films that target youth has increased from the level of G and PG files in 1985 when the rating was introduced, to the level of R films by 2005, to exceed the level of R films since 2012. By definition, a PG-13 movie is supposed to have less violence than an R-rated movie. The Motion Picture Association of America says on its website that the violence in a PG-13 movie "does not reach the restricted R category." Our study shows that it does. By including guns in violent scenes, film producers may be inadvertently increasing aggression in youth via a weapons effect. This experiment directly tests this hypothesis.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 104
Age 8-12yrs, had not participated in study prior, was able to schedule participation with a known peer (8-12yo).
Younger than 8yo, older than 12yo, had participated in study prior, could not schedule participation with a known peer (8-12yo)
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Experimental Condition Movies with Guns Intervention was guns in movies. Participants in this condition viewed a movie with guns, as it was filmed and distributed. The actual scenes in the movie (National Treasure or The Rocketeer) was not edited, but the same scenes were used as the Experimental Condition Intervention is m
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Trigger Pulls 20 minutes after intervention The adjusted median of the number of trigger pulls per child. These data refer to the reduced Generalized Estimating Equation model for the two conditions. This model included participant gender and condition, bu not any of the other control variables.
Seconds Holding Gun 20 minutes after intervention Number of seconds participant held gun
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method