Dillon Kelly P, Bushman Brad J
School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
currently with Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio.
JAMA Pediatr. 2017 Nov 1;171(11):1057-1062. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.2229.
More US 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.
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 not containing guns.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: One hundred four children aged 8 to 12 years recruited through advertisements were randomly assigned in pairs to watch a 20-minute PG-rated movie containing or not containing guns in a university laboratory. Children then played with toys and games in a room for 20 minutes while being video recorded. A cabinet in the room contained a real (disabled) gun with a sensor counting trigger pulls. Recordings were coded for the time spent holding the gun and in aggressive play. Data were collected from July 15, 2015, through January 1, 2016, and analyzed using generalized estimating equations (Tweedie log-link for time spent holding the gun; Poisson log-link for pulling the trigger).
The 2 main outcomes were time spent holding the gun and the number of trigger pulls. Control variables included sex, age, trait aggressiveness, exposure to violent media, interest in guns, and number of guns at home.
Among the 104 study participants (62 boys [59.6%] and 42 girls [40.4%]; mean (SD) age, 9.9 [1.5] years), the adjusted median number of trigger pulls among children who saw the movie containing guns was 2.8 (interquartile range [IQR], 0.2-2.8) compared with 0.01 (IQR, 0.01-0.2) among children who saw the movie not containing guns (adjusted odds ratio, 22.3; 95% CI, 6.0-83.4; P < .001). The adjusted median number of seconds spent holding the gun among children who saw a movie containing guns was 53.1 (IQR, 35.5-53.1) compared with 11.1 (IQR, 10.7-16.7) among children who saw the movie not containing guns (adjusted odds ratio, 3.0; 95% CI, 0.9-9.9; P = .07). Qualitative analyses on 4 pairs from each condition found that children who saw the movie containing guns also played more aggressively and sometimes fired the gun at people (ie, self, partner, or passersby on street).
Children in the United States frequently have access to unsecured firearms and frequently consume media containing guns. This experiment shows that children who see movie characters use guns are more likely to use guns themselves.
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier NCT03220412.
美国因意外枪支使用而死亡的儿童比其他发达国家的儿童更多。可能影响儿童对枪支兴趣的一个因素是接触含有枪支的媒体。
测试观看含有枪支电影的儿童与观看不含枪支的同一部电影的儿童相比，是否会更长时间地摆弄真枪且扣动扳机的次数更多。
设计、场所和参与者：通过广告招募的104名8至12岁儿童被随机配对，在大学实验室观看一部20分钟的PG级含枪或不含枪电影。之后，孩子们在一个房间里玩玩具和游戏20分钟，期间进行录像。房间里的一个柜子里有一把真（已禁用）枪，带有一个统计扳机扣动次数的传感器。录像被编码记录摆弄枪支的时间和攻击性玩耍情况。数据收集时间为2015年7月15日至2016年1月1日，并使用广义估计方程（用于摆弄枪支时间的Tweedie对数链接；用于扣动扳机的泊松对数链接）进行分析。
两个主要结局是摆弄枪支的时间和扳机扣动次数。控制变量包括性别、年龄、特质攻击性、接触暴力媒体情况、对枪支的兴趣以及家中枪支数量。
在104名研究参与者中（62名男孩[59.6%]和42名女孩[40.4%]；平均（标准差）年龄为9.9[1.5]岁），观看含枪电影的儿童调整后的扳机扣动次数中位数为2.8（四分位间距[IQR]，0.2 - 2.8），而观看不含枪电影的儿童为0.01（IQR，0.01 - 0.2）（调整后的优势比为22.3；95%置信区间，6.0 - 83.4；P <.001）。观看含枪电影的儿童摆弄枪支的调整后秒数中位数为53.1（IQR，35.5 - 53.1），而观看不含枪电影的儿童为11.1（IQR，10.7 - 16.7）（调整后的优势比为3.0；95%置信区间，0.9 - 9.9；P = 0.07）。对每种情况的4对儿童进行的定性分析发现，观看含枪电影的儿童玩耍时攻击性也更强，有时还会将枪指向人（即自己、同伴或街上的路人）。
美国儿童经常能够接触到未妥善保管的枪支，且经常接触含有枪支的媒体。该实验表明，观看电影角色使用枪支的儿童自己更有可能使用枪支。
clinicaltrials.gov标识符NCT03220412。
