A new report has found that playing violent video games resulted in increased aggressive and violent behavior over time.
The report reviewed previous studies about playing violent video games, which were published between 2005 and 2013, and found that the activity was a risk factor for greater aggressive behavior, according to a press release from the American Psychological Association.
"The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression," the APA Task Force on Violent Media said in the press release.
However, the report does not say if playing violent video games can lead people to commit crimes.
"Scientists have investigated the use of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is very limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal violence," task force chair Mark Appelbaum said.
Appelbaum also said there is no single risk factor that can cause aggression or violent behavior in a person, but the combination of various risk factors can influence aggressive or violent behavior. He said playing video games is just one of the risk factors.
In light of the report's findings, the APA is calling on video game makers to design games with stricter "parental control over the amount of violence the games contain."
The organization's Council of Representatives drafted a resolution on Aug. 7 recommending that the Entertainment Software Rating Board modify its present rating system "to reflect the levels and characteristics of violence in games." The draft also suggests that video games be designed according to the target user's age and psychological development.
However, some groups disagree with APA. Chris Ferguson, the department chair of technology at Florida's Stetson University, is one of them.
"I think we need to be honest that the evidence is all over the place," Ferguson said, adding that some of APA's task force members are known to be anti-video game. He further noted that the APA has not defined what "aggression" meant, CNN reports.
"I think the one good thing about the report is that this is the first time an organization had come out to say, 'there is no evidence of a link with violence,'" Ferguson said.
According to the APA's report, about 90 percent of children play video games, and 85 percent of the games they play contain violence. An obsession with violent video games is believed to have caused Adam Lanza to open fire on 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, according to CBS News.
