McNair Scholars Undergraduate Research Journal, 2008, Vol. 1

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/10092

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    The Effects of Reality vs. Fantasy Based First-Person Shooting Video Games on Adolescent Behavior
    (2008) Travers, Christopher; Southerland, Wallace III
    This conceptual paper reviewed the literature on violent video games and aggression. Using the General Aggression Model as a framework, this study provides evidence to support the relationship between video game violence and aggressiveness. To address the lack of research on first-person shooter (FPS) video games found in the literature, a future study will be proposed observing different types of first-person shooter video games (reality and fantasy) and the effects they may have on adolescent behavior. Consistent with the General Aggression Model, findings showed increases in aggression for adolescents exposed to violent video games. While research shows first-person shooter video games increase adolescent aggressiveness, evidence on different types of first-person shooter games and their effects on adolescent behavior were inconclusive. However, research reported by Potter (1988) showed that viewers tend to experience more emotional and behavioral issues when viewing reality based media. In addition, Anderson and Bushman (2002) reported that empirical evidence shows that violent video games and aggressiveness have a positive and significant relationship. The grouping of Anderson and Bushman (2002) and Potter (1988), provide evidence that adolescent aggressiveness will be higher when playing reality based first-person shooter games in comparison to fantasy based first-person shooter video games.
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    Family Environmental Characteristics Associated with Obesity in African American High School Girls
    (2008) Stevenson, Nicole; Skasvig, Brit Irene
    Adolescent obesity is prevalent in America. African American girls are at a disproportion risk for developing obesity. Family environment has been shown to be associated with obesity in African American adolescent girls. Examining the family environmental factors further reveals there association with obesity. This study is examining key environmental factors associated with obesity in that population. This study uses secondary analysis of the baseline data from Project Heart (PH), a physical activity intervention trial at a high school with the goal of increasing physical activity levels. Two hundred twenty- one (221) girls participated. Most of them were African American (83%) and age 13-15 years. They completed questionnaires covering aspects of their family environment, and the data analysis showed the factors association with girl’s obese status. Chi squared test and T-test were used to show significant differences between the two groups of obese and non obese girls in relation to their parents obesity status. Twenty-nine percent of the girls were obese, BMI’s at or over the 95 percentile specific for age and sex. 71% of the girls were not obese. 35% of those obese girls had > 1 parent who is obese compared to 15% of non obese girls having > 1 parent obese. The rest of the data analysis is in progress (chart and graphs in development). The data represented girl’s perception in terms of reporting parent obese status, making them inaccurate. The measures used within the data set analysis are family intimacy, family support and family physical activity. The family intimacy scale is very important environmental characteristic when predicting levels of physical activity/non activity in the high school girls and should be continue to be used in other research. There have not been many studies with predominately African American girls. In the future, more in-depth research on the different type of environments needs to be conducted.