Could TV’s bad boys be shaping your kid into one?

Violent media in early childhood may fuel violent behavior later in life, especially in boys, a new study suggests.

New research led by the University of Montreal's School of Psychoeducation has revealed a striking link between exposure to violent screen content and violence in mid-adolescent teens.

Just short of 2000 children, aged 3.5 to 4.5 years old, from middle-class families, were observed – the reason being that this demographic signals less likelihood to engage in aggressive behavior, reported EurekaAlert.

The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Parents were asked to report on how often their children consumed content displaying violence, be it superhero, action, or thriller. The content occasionally included rewards for violent behavior.

Screen violence was defined as anything being “characterized by physical aggression, verbal aggression, and relational aggression” and unsurprisingly, boys had a stronger penchant to watch such videos.

Researcher Linda Pagani also pointed out that alternative factors that may influence a child to engage in hostile behavior or become used to conflict were taken into account. That suggests external influences like having issues at home. Thus, the researchers had stronger rigor for controlling variables.

The study gauged how likely children would be to engage in violent or aggressive behavior eleven years later, when in their early teen years.

Exclusively for boys, exposure to such violent content in pre-school years was a foreteller for forceful behavior such as hitting, stealing, threatening, insulting, and gang fighting. Disturbingly, the use of weapons is also factored in.

The reason for this is that boys are perhaps more pre-conditioned to consume more violent content than girls and be encouraged to engage in rough or aggressive play.

Pagani also called for public health initiatives that can better inform parents of the long-term likelihood of emulating and carrying out such vicious behavior. Media literacy for young children would surely help the cause.

Unsurprisingly, zero effects were detected in girls.