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Vol. 19, No. 6, June 2003
1. Keep Your Eye On ... school mobility predicts behavior problems
2. Study: Violent music increases aggression

Keep Your Eye On ... school mobility predicts behavior problems
Children who frequently change schools are more likely than children who don't to have behavioral health problems, according to new research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Seattle. Researchers found that school mobility was an independent predictor of behavioral problems, regardless of race, income, maternal education level or any other factor measured in the study. Children who frequently changed schools were more likely to have non-married mothers, mothers with lower levels of school involvement and mothers with symptoms of depression. Mothers' perceptions of school quality were also lower among the school-mobile children, compared to non-mobile children. The findings are based on a study involving 3,285 children between the ages of five and 14 years who took part in the 1996 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) survey. Children aged five to nine years were considered school mobile if they had attended two or more elementary schools, while those aged 9.1 to 14 years were deemed mobile if they had attended at least three schools. Fourteen percent of children were school mobile, according to the study.

Keep Your Eye On ... school mobility predicts behavior problems

Children who frequently change schools are more likely than children who don't to have behavioral health problems, according to new research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Seattle. Researchers found that school mobility was an independent predictor of behavioral problems, regardless of race, income, maternal education level or any other factor measured in the study. Children who frequently changed schools were more likely to have non-married mothers, mothers with lower levels of school involvement and mothers with symptoms of depression. Mothers' perceptions of school quality were also lower among the school-mobile children, compared to non-mobile children. The findings are based on a study involving 3,285 children between the ages of five and 14 years who took part in the 1996 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) survey. Children aged five to nine years were considered school mobile if they had attended two or more elementary schools, while those aged 9.1 to 14 years were deemed mobile if they had attended at least three schools. Fourteen percent of children were school mobile, according to the study.

Study: Violent music increases aggression
Songs with violent lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services looked at five experiments involving over 500 college students that examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists. After listening to the songs, students were given various psychological tasks to measure aggressive thoughts and feelings, such as having them classify words that can have both aggressive and nonaggressive meanings (e.g., "rock" and "stick"). Results showed that violent songs led to more aggressive interpretations of ambiguously aggressive words, increased the relative speed with which people read aggressive vs. nonaggressive words, and increased the proportion of word fragments that were filled in to make aggressive words. According to the authors, the violent songs increased feelings of hostility without provocation - an effect that was not the result of differences in musical style, specific performing artist or arousal properties of the songs. The study found that even humorous violent songs increased aggressive thoughts. The researchers noted that while repeated exposure to violent lyrics could indirectly create a more hostile social environment, it is possible that the effects of violent songs may last only a short time. "One major conclusion from this and other research on violent entertainment media is that content matters," said lead researcher Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., in a statement. "This message is important for all consumers, but especially for parents of children and adolescents." Anderson CA, Carnagey NL, Eubanks J: Exposure to violent media: the effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003; 84(5):960-971.

Study: Violent music increases aggression

Songs with violent lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services looked at five experiments involving over 500 college students that examined the effects of seven violent songs by seven artists and eight nonviolent songs by seven artists. After listening to the songs, students were given various psychological tasks to measure aggressive thoughts and feelings, such as having them classify words that can have both aggressive and nonaggressive meanings (e.g., "rock" and "stick").

Results showed that violent songs led to more aggressive interpretations of ambiguously aggressive words, increased the relative speed with which people read aggressive vs. nonaggressive words, and increased the proportion of word fragments that were filled in to make aggressive words. According to the authors, the violent songs increased feelings of hostility without provocation - an effect that was not the result of differences in musical style, specific performing artist or arousal properties of the songs. The study found that even humorous violent songs increased aggressive thoughts.

The researchers noted that while repeated exposure to violent lyrics could indirectly create a more hostile social environment, it is possible that the effects of violent songs may last only a short time.

"One major conclusion from this and other research on violent entertainment media is that content matters," said lead researcher Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., in a statement. "This message is important for all consumers, but especially for parents of children and adolescents."

Anderson CA, Carnagey NL, Eubanks J: Exposure to violent media: the effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003; 84(5):960-971.

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, June 2003
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