Longitudinal effects of media violence on aggression and empathy among German adolescents

To address the longitudinal relation between adolescentsʹ habitual usage of media violence and aggressive behavior and empathy, N = 1237 seventh and eighth grade high school students in Germany completed measures of violent and nonviolent media usage, aggression, and empathy twice in twelve months. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed significant pathways from T1 media violence usage to higher physical aggression and lower empathy at T2. The reverse paths from T1 aggression or empathy to T2 media violence usage were nonsignificant. The links were similar for boys and girls. No links were found between exposure to nonviolent media and aggression or between violent media and relational aggression. T1 physical aggression moderated the impact of media violence usage, with stronger effects of media violence usage among the low aggression group.