Children who playing video games and use violent moves such as karate kicks can make them aggressive, says a US study.
The study by Kevin Kieffer and Jessica Nicoll of Saint Leo University, Florida, shows there's a strong link between 'shoot 'em up' video games and how children and adolescents behave - at least in the short term, reports the online edition of science journal Nature.Some researchers had earlier said that playing such games was directly linked to aggressive behavior in children.
The study also shows that children who play violent video games are much less likely to be helpful to others than they are when they play more social and non-violent video games.
"But the real issue is whether there's long-lasting change as a result of these violent video games, and the current literature does not adequately address these issues," says Kieffer.
"Imagine a child playing these very violent games from age 10 until adulthood. It's hard to speculate that he would not have some adverse effects as a result of this."
The study say the only way to really answer this cause-and-effect question is to do long-term studies following children over many years, and looking at all the factors that could influence aggressive behavior, including discipline at home, poverty and how well a child is doing at school.
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