TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Desensitized gamers? Violent video game exposure and empathy for pain in adolescents - an ERP study
JO  - Social neuroscience
A1  - Miedzobrodzka, Ewa
A1  - van Hooff, Johanna C.
A1  - Krabbendam, Lydia
A1  - Konijn, Elly A.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - This Event-Related Potential (ERP) study aimed to test how habitual and short-term violent video game exposure (VVGE) may affect empathy for pain responses in adolescents. In a within-subjects design, boys (N = 56; aged 12-16 years) performed a pain judgment task before and immediately after playing a violent video game. In this task, participants judged whether photos of hands depicted on their screen were in a painful situation or not. While both the P3 and the LPP components were not related to habitual violent video game exposure, general exposure to antisocial media content predicted lower P3 amplitudes to painful pictures. Further, 40 minutes of violent gameplay did not affect the P3 responses, however, it temporarily decreased LPP responses to painful pictures, suggesting a modest short-term desensitization effect. However, this latter interpretation is limited by a strong LPP pain effect - a significant amplitude difference between painful and non-painful pictures - that remained present in the post-game condition. Such persistent LPP effect may relate to the notion that adolescents are still learning how to properly regulate their emotional reactions. This study contributes to the limited literature on violent video games' desensitization in adolescents' brains, opening new avenues for media violence research.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1747-0919
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2023.2284999
ID  - ref1
ER  -