Interventions to Mitigate the Psychological Effects of Media Violence on Aggressive Behavior

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Abstract
The purpose of this paper has been to determine if there have been any successful interventions to mitigate the effect that observation of television violence has on young children. Only two interventions directly aimed at reducing the effect of violent television have been reported in the literature. Studies attempting to increase prosocial behavior by observation of filmed prosocial sequences are also reviewed to see if they have any relevance to the stated purpose of this paper. There were many more such studies. However, they were primarily laboratory experiments, and even though successful in temporarily encouraging prosocial behavior, no long‐term effects on such behavior have been noted. Further, for maximum effectiveness, observation of the prosocial programs had to be accompanied by additional training, e.g., role playing. Interventions designed to teach children and/or their parents essential critical viewing skills are then reviewed in the expectation that development of such skills would limit the effect television has on the subsequent behavior of the viewer. Finally, interventions aimed at reducing aggressive behavior without reference to television are reviewed for possible relevance. It appears that interventions that combine both cognitive and behavioral approaches have the most promise. A major difficulty facing all intervention programs is the intractability of aggression itself. Aggression is a problem‐solving behavior learned early in life, usually learned well and therefore quite resistant to change.