Revisiting the Association Between Television Viewing in Adolescence and Contact With the Criminal Justice System in Adulthood

Citation

Schwartz, J. A. & Beaver, K. M. (2015). Revisiting the Association Between Television Viewing in Adolescence and Contact With the Criminal Justice System in Adulthood. Journal of interpersonal violence.

Abstract

A substantial number of previous studies have reported significant associations between television viewing habits and a host of detrimental outcomes including increased contact with the criminal justice system. However, it remains unclear whether the results flowing from this literature are generalizable to other samples and whether previously observed associations are confounded due to uncontrolled genetic influences. The current study addresses these limitations using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The results of the preliminary models, which do not include controls for genetic influences, produced a pattern of results similar to those previously reported in the extant literature. The results of the genetically informed models revealed that the associations between television viewing and antisocial outcomes are not causal, but rather are driven by uncontrolled genetic influences. Further replication is required, but these findings suggest that results drawn from the extant literature may not be trustworthy.

URL

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25818861

Keyword(s)

adolescence

Notes

1552-6518

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Journal of interpersonal violence

Author(s)

Schwartz, J. A.
Beaver, K. M.

Year Published

2015

Edition

2015/03/31

DOI

10.1177/0886260515576970

Reference ID

5590