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15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

Learning objective.

  • Read an example of the cause-and-effect rhetorical mode.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

Online Cause-and-Effective Essay Alternatives

Lawrence Otis Graham examines racism, and whether it has changed since the 1970s, in The “Black Table” Is Still There :

  • http://scremeens.googlepages.com/TheBlackTableessay.rtf

Robin Tolmach Lakoff discusses the power of language to dehumanize in From Ancient Greece to Iraq: The Power of Words in Wartime :

  • http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/science/essay-from-ancient-greece-to-iraq-the-power-of-words-in-wartime.html

Alan Weisman examines the human impact on the planet and its effects in Earth without People :

  • http://discovermagazine.com/2005/feb/earth-without-people

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

cause and effect of video games essay

15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

Learning objective.

  • Read an example of the cause-and-effect rhetorical mode.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

Online Cause-and-Effective Essay Alternatives

Norman Cousins examines cause and effect in boxing in Who Killed Benny Paret?

  • http://ecmd.nju.edu.cn/UploadFile/6/2552/wb2427.doc

Lawrence Otis Graham examines racism, and whether it has changed since the 1970s, in The “Black Table” Is Still There :

  • http://scremeens.googlepages.com/TheBlackTableessay.rtf

Robin Tolmach Lakoff discusses the power of language to dehumanize in From Ancient Greece to Iraq: The Power of Words in Wartime :

  • http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/18/science/essay-from-ancient-greece-to-iraq-the-power-of-words-in-wartime.html

Alan Weisman examines the human impact on the planet and its effects in Earth without People :

  • http://discovermagazine.com/2005/feb/earth-without-people
  • Writing for Success: Cause and Effect

This section will help you determine the purpose and structure of cause and effect in writing.

The Purpose of Cause and Effect in Writing

It is often considered human nature to ask, “why?” and “how?” We want to know how our child got sick so we can better prevent it from happening in the future, or why a colleague received a pay raise because we want one as well. We want to know how much money we will save over the long term if we buy a hybrid car, or how long we will live if we exercise daily. These examples identify only a few of the relationships we think about in our lives, but each shows the importance of understanding cause and effect.

A cause is something that produces an event or condition; an effect is what results from an event or condition. The purpose of the cause-and-effect essay is to determine how various phenomena relate in terms of origins and results. Sometimes the connection between cause and effect is clear, but often determining the exact relationship between the two is very difficult. For example, the following effects of a cold may be easily identifiable: a sore throat, runny nose, and a cough. But determining the cause of the sickness can be far more difficult. A number of causes are possible, and to complicate matters, these possible causes could have combined to cause the sickness. That is, more than one cause may be responsible for any given effect. Therefore, cause-and-effect discussions are often complicated and frequently lead to debates and arguments.

Use the complex nature of cause and effect to your advantage. Often it is not necessary, or even possible, to find the exact cause of an event or to name the exact effect. So, when formulating a thesis, you can claim one of a number of causes or effects to be the primary, or main, cause or effect. As soon as you claim that one cause or one effect is more crucial than the others, you have developed a thesis.

The Structure of a Cause and Effect Essay

The cause-and-effect essay opens with a general introduction to the topic, which then leads to a thesis that states the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.

The cause-and-effect essay can be organized in one of the following two primary ways:

  • Start with the cause and then talk about the effects.
  • Start with the effect and then talk about the causes.

For example, if your essay were on childhood obesity, you could start by talking about the effect of childhood obesity and then discuss the cause or you could start the same essay by talking about the cause of childhood obesity and then move to the effect.

Regardless of which structure you choose, be sure to explain each element of the essay fully and completely. Explaining complex relationships requires the full use of evidence, such as scientific studies, expert testimony, statistics, and anecdotes.

Because cause-and-effect essays determine how phenomena are linked, they make frequent use of certain words and phrases that denote such linkage.  Certain  transitional words and phrases  aid in keeping the reader oriented in the sequencing of a story. Some of these phrases are listed here:

Phrases of Causation

as a result consequently
because due to
hence since
thus therefore

The conclusion should wrap up the discussion and reinforce the thesis, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of the relationship that was analyzed.

Be careful of resorting to empty speculation. In writing, speculation amounts to unsubstantiated guessing. Writers are particularly prone to such trappings in cause-and-effect arguments due to the complex nature of finding links between phenomena. Be sure to have clear evidence to support the claims that you make.

Writing an Cause and Effect Essay

Choose an event or condition that you think has an interesting cause-and-effect relationship. Introduce your topic in an engaging way. End your introduction with a thesis that states the main cause, the main effect, or both.

Organize your essay by starting with either the cause-then-effect structure or the effect-then-cause structure. Within each section, you should clearly explain and support the causes and effects using a full range of evidence. If you are writing about multiple causes or multiple effects, you may choose to sequence either in terms of order of importance. In other words, order the causes from least to most important (or vice versa), or order the effects from least important to most important (or vice versa).

Use the phrases of causation when trying to forge connections between various events or conditions. This will help organize your ideas and orient the reader. End your essay with a conclusion that summarizes your main points and reinforces your thesis.

Cause and Effect Essay Example

Effects of Video Game Addiction

By Scott McLean

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

Key Takeaways

  • The purpose of the cause-and-effect essay is to determine how various phenomena are related.
  • The thesis states what the writer sees as the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.
  • The cause-and-effect essay can be organized in one of these two primary ways:
  • Start with the cause and then talk about the effect.
  • Start with the effect and then talk about the cause.
  • Strong evidence is particularly important in the cause-and-effect essay due to the complexity of determining connections between phenomena.
  • Phrases of causation are helpful in signaling links between various elements in the essay.
  • Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : http://lumenlearning.com/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
  • Successful Writing. Provided by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s14-08-cause-and-effect.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
  • Effects of Video Game Addiction. Authored by : Scott McLean. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s19-09-cause-and-effect-essay.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
  • Table of Contents

Instructor Resources (Access Requires Login)

  • Overview of Instructor Resources

An Overview of the Writing Process

  • Introduction to the Writing Process
  • Introduction to Writing
  • Your Role as a Learner
  • What is an Essay?
  • Reading to Write
  • Defining the Writing Process
  • Videos: Prewriting Techniques
  • Thesis Statements
  • Organizing an Essay
  • Creating Paragraphs
  • Conclusions
  • Editing and Proofreading
  • Matters of Grammar, Mechanics, and Style
  • Peer Review Checklist
  • Comparative Chart of Writing Strategies

Using Sources

  • Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism
  • Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
  • Citing Paraphrases and Summaries (APA)
  • APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines

Definition Essay

  • Definitional Argument Essay
  • How to Write a Definition Essay
  • Critical Thinking
  • Video: Thesis Explained
  • Effective Thesis Statements
  • Student Sample: Definition Essay

Narrative Essay

  • Introduction to Narrative Essay
  • Student Sample: Narrative Essay
  • "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
  • "Sixty-nine Cents" by Gary Shteyngart
  • Video: The Danger of a Single Story
  • How to Write an Annotation
  • How to Write a Summary
  • Writing for Success: Narration

Illustration/Example Essay

  • Introduction to Illustration/Example Essay
  • "She's Your Basic L.O.L. in N.A.D" by Perri Klass
  • "April & Paris" by David Sedaris
  • Writing for Success: Illustration/Example
  • Student Sample: Illustration/Example Essay

Compare/Contrast Essay

  • Introduction to Compare/Contrast Essay
  • "Disability" by Nancy Mairs
  • "Friending, Ancient or Otherwise" by Alex Wright
  • "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard
  • Writing for Success: Compare/Contrast
  • Student Sample: Compare/Contrast Essay

Cause-and-Effect Essay

  • Introduction to Cause-and-Effect Essay
  • "Cultural Baggage" by Barbara Ehrenreich
  • "Women in Science" by K.C. Cole
  • Student Sample: Cause-and-Effect Essay

Argument Essay

  • Introduction to Argument Essay
  • Rogerian Argument
  • "The Case Against Torture," by Alisa Soloman
  • "The Case for Torture" by Michael Levin
  • How to Write a Summary by Paraphrasing Source Material
  • Writing for Success: Argument
  • Student Sample: Argument Essay
  • Grammar/Mechanics Mini-lessons
  • Mini-lesson: Subjects and Verbs, Irregular Verbs, Subject Verb Agreement
  • Mini-lesson: Sentence Types
  • Mini-lesson: Fragments I
  • Mini-lesson: Run-ons and Comma Splices I
  • Mini-lesson: Comma Usage
  • Mini-lesson: Parallelism
  • Mini-lesson: The Apostrophe
  • Mini-lesson: Capital Letters
  • Grammar Practice - Interactive Quizzes
  • De Copia - Demonstration of the Variety of Language
  • Style Exercise: Voice

Cause and Effect Essay

Student sample: cause and effect essay, cause and effect essay example.

Effects of Video Game Addiction

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

  • Cause and Effect Essay. Authored by : Anonymous. Provided by : Anonymous. Located at : http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Writing%20for%20Success.pdf . Project : Writing for Success. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Effects of Video Games on Children Essay

  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Negative effects of video games, video games as a neutral factor, future studies.

Most of the popular video games in the market are characterized by their ability to allow players to role-play in various situations, unfortunately, most of these situations normally involve violence. There has been unease at the effect that this exposure could have on children, considering that video games are fast becoming a favorite past time for most children in the developed world. Studies have suggested the existence of a relationship between youth violence and video games and this could apply to children too.

The evidence that video games increase violence among children is overwhelming. For example, a study in 2001 found that a high number of violence cases in high schools and universities were orchestrated by persons who confessed to playing violent games regularly. An explanation for this is that aggression is mainly based on the learning function of the brain and as such, each violent episode is in essence one more learning opportunity, hence violence is increased with increased exposure to video games.

One of the factors that make video games prone to leading to violence is the high level of engagement and concentration required of gamers. Studies show that children who were exposed to violent video games engage in fantasy plays in which they emulate the actions of the violent characters. This effectively demonstrates that the high involvement of video games results in youths desiring to play out the violent actions in real life.

A logical consequence of exposure to violence is desensitization, a process whereby the cognitive, emotional, and even behavioral response to violence is eliminated in a gradual process. Therefore, engaging in violent video games results in an increase for tolerance of violent behavior in real life.

While advocates for video games argue that video games represent violence as ‘cool and fashionable’, it should be noted that video games are no the only media through which such notions arise from. Violence is an aspect of the mainstream media and hence violence in children should take into consideration these various media platforms.

Opponents of media violence point to the rise in crime wave during the 1970s and 1980s, which was largely attributed to violence in television. They say that the same could happen due to video game violence. This is a fallacy as statistics indicate that violent crimes in the US fell in the 1990s, a time when violent video games became popular.

While video games are meant to be educational or entertaining, content analysis shows that 89% of these contain some violent content. Since video games are so common among children, the effect of video games would be significant. It has been said that a relation exists between video game violence and real life violence, however, this is no absolute reality.

Proponents argue that violent children prefer to play violent video games. Research suggests otherwise, therefore we can conclude that while violent games are played by violent children, the aggression levels increase due to the exposure.

This paper examined the effects of violent video games on children and their inclination to violent behavior. From the study, it is evident that video games have an effect on the behavior of children.

Future studies should look at other forms of violence, not necessarily physical as children are likely to engage on these on a regular basis.

  • Domestic Violence and Elderly Abuse- A Policy Statement
  • Effects of War on Economics, Politics, Society
  • Video Games and Violent Behavior
  • Banning Violent Video Games Argumentative Essay
  • Aggression and media influence
  • Domestic Violence as a Social and Public Health Problem
  • Norm Violation Paper
  • Guns Should Be Controlled or Restricted in the USA
  • On the Origins of Violence
  • Addressing Violence in Colorado
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, July 22). Effects of Video Games on Children. https://ivypanda.com/essays/effects-of-video-games-on-children/

"Effects of Video Games on Children." IvyPanda , 22 July 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/effects-of-video-games-on-children/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Effects of Video Games on Children'. 22 July.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Effects of Video Games on Children." July 22, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/effects-of-video-games-on-children/.

1. IvyPanda . "Effects of Video Games on Children." July 22, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/effects-of-video-games-on-children/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Effects of Video Games on Children." July 22, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/effects-of-video-games-on-children/.

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24 Cause and Effect

It is often considered human nature to ask, “why?” and “how?” We want to know how our child got sick so we can better prevent it from happening in the future, or why our colleague received a pay raise because we want one as well. We want to know how much money we will save over the long term if we buy a hybrid car. These examples identify only a few of the relationships we think about in our lives, but each shows the importance of understanding cause and effect.

A cause is something that produces an event or condition; an effect is what results from an event or condition. The purpose of the  cause-and-effect essay  is to determine how various phenomena relate in terms of origins and results. Sometimes the connection between cause and effect is clear, but often determining the exact relationship between the two is very difficult. For example, the following effects of a cold may be easily identifiable: a sore throat, a runny nose, and a cough. But, determining the cause of the sickness can be far more difficult. A number of causes are possible, and to complicate matters, these possible causes could have combined to cause the sickness. That is, more than one cause may be responsible for any given effect. Therefore, cause-and-effect discussions are often complicated and frequently lead to debates and arguments.

Use the complex nature of cause and effect to your advantage. Often it is not necessary, or even possible, to find the exact cause of an event or to name the exact effect. So, when formulating a thesis, you can claim one of a number of causes or effects to be the primary, or main, cause or effect. As soon as you claim that one cause or one effect is more crucial than the others, you have developed a thesis.

Consider the causes and effects in the following thesis statements. Identify whether each statement is identifying a cause or an effect. Then, list a cause and effect for each one on your own sheet of paper.

  • The growing childhood obesity epidemic is a result of technology.
  • Much of the wildlife is dying because of the oil spill.
  • The town continued programs that it could no longer afford, so it went bankrupt.
  • More young people became politically active as use of the Internet spread throughout society.
  • While many experts believed the rise in violence was because of the poor economy, it was really because of the summer-long heat wave.

Write three cause-and-effect thesis statements of your own for each of the following five broad topics.

  • Health and nutrition

The Structure of a Cause-and-Effect Essay

The cause-and-effect essay opens with a general introduction to the topic, which then leads to a thesis that states the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.

The cause-and-effect essay can be organized in one of the following two primary ways:

  • Start with the cause and then write about the effects.
  • Start with the effect and then write about the causes.

For example, if your essay were on childhood obesity, you could start by talking about the effect of childhood obesity and then discuss the cause or you could start the same essay by writing about the cause of childhood obesity and then move to the effect.

Regardless of which structure you choose, be sure to explain each element of the essay fully and completely. Explaining complex relationships requires the full use of evidence, such as scientific studies, expert testimony, statistics, and anecdotes.

Because cause-and-effect essays determine how phenomena are linked, they make frequent use of certain words and phrases that denote such linkage. See the table below for examples of such terms.

Phrases of Causation

  • as a result
  • consequently

The conclusion should wrap up the discussion and reinforce the thesis, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of the relationship that was analyzed.

Be careful of resorting to empty speculation. In writing, speculation amounts to unsubstantiated guessing. Writers are particularly prone to such trappings in cause-and-effect arguments because of the complex nature of finding links between phenomena. Be sure to have clear evidence to support the claims that you make.

Look at some of the cause-and-effect relationships from Exercise 1. Outline the links you listed. Outline one using a cause-then-effect structure. Outline the other using the effect-then-cause structure.

Writing a Cause-and-Effect Essay

Choose an event or condition that you think has an interesting cause-and-effect relationship. Introduce your topic in an engaging way. End your introduction with a thesis that states the main cause, the main effect, or both.

Organize your essay by starting with either the cause-then-effect structure or the effect-then-cause structure. Within each section, you should clearly explain and support the causes and effects using a full range of evidence. If you are writing about multiple causes or multiple effects, you may choose to sequence either in terms of  order of importance . In other words, order the causes from least to most important (or vice versa), or order the effects from least important to most important (or vice versa).

Use the phrases of causation when trying to forge connections between various events or conditions. This will help organize your ideas and orient the reader. End your essay by drawing a conclusion based on the information presented. You may find it helpful to think of the conclusion as an answer to the question: “so what” or as a continuation of the statement “and so. . . “. In some cases, may be appropriate to issue a call to action in your essay’s conclusion.

Choose a local issue or topic that concerns you. Examine both the causes and effects of this issue or topic, and write a paragraph that outlines these using the components of a cause and effect essay.

Assignment 1

Choose one of the ideas you outlined in Exercise 3 and write a full cause-and-effect essay. Be sure to include an engaging introduction, a clear thesis, strong evidence and examples, and a thoughtful conclusion.

Key Takeaways

The purpose of the cause-and-effect essay is to determine how various phenomena are related.

  • The thesis states what the writer sees as the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.
  • Start with the cause and then write about the effect.
  • Start with the effect and then write about the cause.
  • Strong evidence is particularly important in the cause-and-effect essay because of the complexity of determining connections between phenomena.
  • Phrases of causation are helpful in signaling links between various elements in the essay.

Cause and Effect Essay Example

Effects of Video Game Addiction

By Scott McLean

Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day. Most players are able to limit their usage in ways that do not interfere with their daily lives, but many others have developed an addiction to playing video games and suffer detrimental effects.

An addiction can be described in several ways, but generally speaking, addictions involve unhealthy attractions to substances or activities that ultimately disrupt the ability of a person to keep up with regular daily responsibilities. Video game addiction typically involves playing games uncontrollably for many hours at a time—some people will play only four hours at a time while others cannot stop for over twenty-four hours. Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many of the same effects will be experienced by all.

One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in socialization. While it is true that many games, especially massive multiplayer online games, involve a very real form of e-based communication and coordination with others, and these virtual interactions often result in real communities that can be healthy for the players, these communities and forms of communication rarely translate to the types of valuable social interaction that humans need to maintain typical social functioning. As a result, the social networking in these online games often gives the users the impression that they are interacting socially, while their true social lives and personal relations may suffer.

Another unfortunate product of the isolation that often accompanies video game addiction is the disruption of the user’s career. While many players manage to enjoy video games and still hold their jobs without problems, others experience challenges at their workplace. Some may only experience warnings or demerits as a result of poorer performance, or others may end up losing their jobs altogether. Playing video games for extended periods of time often involves sleep deprivation, and this tends to carry over to the workplace, reducing production and causing habitual tardiness.

Video game addiction may result in a decline in overall health and hygiene. Players who interact with video games for such significant amounts of time can go an entire day without eating and even longer without basic hygiene tasks, such as using the restroom or bathing. The effects of this behavior pose significant danger to their overall health.

The causes of video game addiction are complex and can vary greatly, but the effects have the potential to be severe. Playing video games can and should be a fun activity for all to enjoy. But just like everything else, the amount of time one spends playing video games needs to be balanced with personal and social responsibilities.

External Links

“ Women in Science ” (https://tinyurl.com/y8pggr7g) by K.C. Cole. The link to the essay is correct. It seems to be titled “Hers” but it is the correct essay.

“ Cultural Baggage ” (https://tinyurl.com/yc7qeuyp) by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Robin Tolmach Lakoff discusses the power of language to dehumanize in “ From Ancient Greece to Iraq: The Power of Words in Wartime”  (https://tinyurl.com/y76bt3ah).

Alan Weisman examines the human impact on the planet and its effects in “ Earth without People ” ( https://tinyurl.com/mswazr ).

Attributions

Content taken from Chapter 5 – Rhetorical Modes  by Jenifer Kurtz is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

English 101: Journey Into Open Copyright © 2021 by Christine Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Video Games, Violence Justification and Child-to-Parent Violence

  • Original Paper
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  • Published: 05 September 2024

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cause and effect of video games essay

  • Miriam Junco-Guerrero 1 ,
  • Ana Ruiz-Fernández 1 &
  • David Cantón-Cortés   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4399-4506 1  

During the past decade, video games have become the main industrial entertainment sector, although research on the effects of violence in video games on juvenile aggressiveness has raised concerns that they may pose a significant social risk. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship of exposure to violent video games, pathological video-gaming, and justification of violence with the perpetration of Child-to-Parent Violence (CPV) against the mother and the father, controlling for the sex, educational level, and violent TV exposure of the participant. The sample consisted of 439 students from Compulsory Secondary Education, (238 boys and 201 girls), aged between 13 and 18. Exposure to video games was assessed through an author-elaborated questionnaire, violence justification, and pathological video-gaming were evaluated with the Exposure to Violence Questionnaire and the Assessment of Pathological Computer-Gaming, respectively, and CPV was assessed through the Child-to-Parent Aggression Questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that pathological video-gaming and, specially, justification of violence, were related to the perpetration of CPV against both mothers and fathers. However, a relationship of exposure to violent video games and violence on TV with the perpetration of CPV was not found. These results suggest a potential new target for CPV prevention, as well as for the treatment of juvenile offenders.

Pathological video-gaming and justification of violence are related to the perpetration of CPV against both mothers and fathers.

However, exposure to violent video games and violence on TV are not associated with CPV rates.

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Parental abuse by children, or child-parent violence (CPV), is a phenomenon of great social importance that is generating interest among researchers and professionals due to its notable increase and impact on family dynamics. At present, CPV is an emerging phenomenon, with an increase in cases in recent years (Cortina & Martín, 2021 ). The Spanish Society for the Study of Child-Parent Violence (Spanish acronym, SEVIFIP) defines it as:

“Repeated behaviors of physical, psychological (verbal or non-verbal), or economic violence, directed at the parents, or those who take their place. Specific aggressions are excluded, those that occur in a state of decreased consciousness which disappear when it is recovered (intoxications, withdrawal syndromes, delusional states, or hallucinations), those caused by psychological alterations (transient or stable), and parricide without a history of previous aggressions” (Pereira et al., 2017 , p. 6).

Despite research conducted to establish the prevalence rate of CPV, studies show controversial results. This discrepancy is due to the different definitions of CPV, as well as differences in data collection methods (Gallego et al., 2019 ). In addition, estimating the prevalence of CPV is challenging due to underreporting, with only a small number of cases ever being reported. This may occur because parents often experience feelings of guilt and shame when considering reporting their child’s behavior (Loinaz & de Sousa, 2019 ). Moreover, prevalence figures vary depending on the sample studied. Clinical samples tend to exhibit similar prevalence figures to those found in the general population, whereas judicial samples demonstrate higher rates of physical and psychological violence (Calvete et al., 2013 ; Ibabe et al., 2014 ).

International prevalence rates of CPV vary depending on economic status, sociodemographic variables or family structure. Previous research indicates that CPV occurs in a range between 5 and 22% of the population (Holt, 2016 ; Lyons et al. ( 2015 ); O’Hara et al., 2017 ). Studies involving specialized samples, such as young people referred from clinics, justice centers or from homes where domestic violence is present, suggest rates near the upper end of this range. Longitudinal studies carried out with community samples in the United States and Canada have shown that the prevalence of physical CPV ranges between 11% and 22%, while psychological CPV ranges between 51% and 75% (Margolin & Baucom, 2014 ). In Canada, a study by Pagani et al. ( 2004 ) reported prevalence rates of 12% for physical aggression and 60% for verbal aggression, over a 6-month period. In Spain, where most field studies have been conducted, the prevalence rate ranged from 21% for physical violence and 46% for emotional abuse (Jaureguizar & Ibabe, 2013 ). On the other hand, research on this phenomenon in countries such as Latin America is very limited. However, in Chile, recent studies shown a prevalence of psychological CPV towards both parents of 76.4%, 7.4% of physical violence, and 40.8% of economic violence (Jiménez-García et al., 2020 ). This lack of knowledge about the prevalence of this phenomenon and its frequency indicates a need for further research.

CPV is recognized as a growing phenomenon. Consequently, recent research has focused on identifying the risk factors for its occurrence. Regarding individual factors, studies suggest that variables such as alcohol and drug use, symptoms of depression in offenders, and the presence of dysfunctional components of social-cognitive processing in aggressors are associated with a higher risk for CPV (Calvete et al., 2012 ; Contreras et al., 2020 ). Other studies have identified family variables as risk factors for CPV. These variables include childhood abuse from parents to children, which supports the hypothesis of bidirectionality of violence, as well as exposure to violence at home and the use of punitive strategies (Beckmann et al., 2021 ; Calvete et al., 2015 ; Cano-Lozano et al., 2021 ). Social factors have been less extensively studied to date, but research suggests that negative social influence or experiencing intimate partner violence during adolescence may increase the risk of engaging in CPV (Del Hoyo-Bilbao et al. ( 2018 ); Izaguirre & Calvete, 2017 ).

Along these lines, some authors have proposed theoretical frameworks to explain CPV, with the aim of guiding professional intervention and legislative guidelines. The General Strain Theory (Agnew, 1992 ) proposes that CPV is an aggressive response to the stress and problems faced by young people in their social environment. Furthermore, the Social Learning Theory (Bandura ( 1973 )) posits that CPV is a behavior that can be learned by young people through modeling by parents, siblings, or other peers. Similarly, Cottrell and Monk ( 2004 ) attempted to apply the Nested Ecological Theory to explain CPV, concluding that it can occur as a result of a combination of psychological, sociological, and cultural factors. Subsequently, Hong et al. ( 2012 ) generated the Social Ecology Theory, according to which CPV is produced by factors pertaining to the youth’s microsystem (child maltreatment, parenting styles); mesosystem (influence of conflicting peers); exosystem (influence of media); macrosystem (socialization); and chronosystem (change in family structure). The present research focuses on the analysis of some risk factors that could lead to an increase in CPV rates, such as the use of violent video games, the pathological gaming or the justification of violence.

The theoretical underpinning for this research will be based on social learning theory, as it can explain how young people can learn violent behavior through social media, such as violent video games (Bandura ( 1973 )). Social learning theory can also explain how the justification of violence, as a cognitive variable, may mediate the relationship between exposure to violent video games or pathological gaming and CPV. According to social learning theory, children may imitate the behaviors they observe from others, but they may also make cognitive inferences that lead to generalizing the behaviors they observe. Several authors have related the development of CPV to social learning theory (Contreras & Cano, 2014 ; Ibabe et al. ( 2013 )). These authors indicate that children can learn violent behavior through modeling, not only from their parents but also from peers and social influences. Additionally, other authors suggest that this learning can become internalized as a part of the identity in adolescence (Papamichail & Bates, 2022 ). Per social cognitive theory, there are three interacting components that determine how behavioral learning can occur: contextual variables, personal cognitive variables, and behavioral outcomes. In the present research, the contextual variables studied will be exposure to violent video games and pathological gaming, the cognitive variable will be the justification of violence, and the behavioral outcome will be CPV.

Exposure to violence in video games and television

Previous research has shown an association between CPV and exposure to violence. Martín and Hernández ( 2020 ), for example, conducted a study to investigate the relationship between exposure to violence and CPV in juvenile offenders. These authors found a relationship between the two variables, concluding that exposure to violence could occur in various settings, such as at home or in school. Similarly, Pereira and Bertino ( 2009 ), from the review of other studies, concluded that the multitude of violent messages in the media leads to the normalization of violence and its use to resolve conflicts, which could make up a social factor for the perpetration of CPV. On another hand, Brockmyer ( 2013 ) stated that exposure to violence in the media and video games can lead to the development of beliefs, attitudes, and aggressive behaviors, as well as to a greater desensitization to violence in general, with its consequent justification.

Today, scholars are engaged in a central discussion concerning the effects of violent video games and whether their use is linked to aggressive behavior. The General Aggression Model by Anderson and Bushman ( 2002 ) was one of the first theories arguing that repeated exposure to violent video games may lead to changes in aggression-related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Their research concluded that violent video games increase physiological arousal, aggressive thoughts and feelings and aggressive behaviors, while decreasing prosocial behaviors. However, other authors hold a different perspective, arguing that violent video games do not actually increase aggression in young people (Ferguson et al., 2015 ; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2019 ). In support of this idea, Johannes et al. ( 2021 ) reported that young people who play video games for longer periods of time in the past few weeks tend to have a higher well-being. This finding is consistent with other authors who have identified a correlation between video game use and positive effects on mental health (Granic et al., 2014 ).

The significance of this discussion led the American Psychological Association (APA) to establish a Working Group on Violent Media in 2015, with the goal of investigating the association between violent video game and aggression. Their study concluded that violent video games indeed increase aggression while reducing prosocial behavior (American Psychological Association ( 2015 )). However, more recently, Ferguson et al. ( 2020 ) re-examined this research and found that the evidence for the effects of violent video games on aggression was weak, with the exception of desensitization. The authors pointed out that recent meta-analyses show small effects on the relationship between violent video game use and aggression or reduced prosocial behavior, and the interpretation of these results as significant is questionable. In fact, they state that the results of many of the studies linking these variables may be explained by publication bias or questionable researcher practices. In the same vein, Drummond et al. ( 2020 ) conducted a meta-analysis involving 28 independent samples. The authors reported smaller effect sizes over longer longitudinal periods regarding the relationship between aggressive play content and aggression. Additionally, effects sizes were smaller in better-designed studies. Therefore, these authors reveal that longitudinal studies do not seem to find significant long-term relationships between aggressive game content and aggression in young people.

At the theoretical level, approaches to the effects of video games are very different. For example, there is research that relies on the displacement hypothesis to explain media effects and other studies that rely on theories of human motivation. These different approaches and contradictory findings make it difficult to build evidence. Second, previous research also raises methodological limitations in research on the negative effect of video games. The operationalization of video games is one of them. It is based on experiments that are designed to mimic game play but are not accurate in how game play occurs naturally. Moreover, studies on this topic are based on the use of self-reports, which are not objective measures of actual behavior. Also, studies tend to be cross-sectional, not addressing possible causal relationship. Finally, research usually uses a limited set of games, compromising generalizability to video games in general (Johannes et al., 2021 ; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2019 ; Vuorre et al., 2022 ). An example of the need for caution in such research is the study by Hilgard et al. ( 2017 ), who re-analysed meta-analytical data on this issue, bringing together results on GAM research. In their study they noted the existence of a publication bias. When adjusting for bias, the observed effect sizes were smaller than the original ones.

To date, despite growing interest in the relationship between violent video game consumption and violence, only the study of Ruiz-Fernández et al. ( 2021 ) has analyzed the relationship between video game consumption and CPV, finding that to the extent that the consumption of video games causes engagement in the player, then it was associated with higher levels of CPV. The ongoing controversy surrounding the relationship between the use of violent video games and violent behavior indicates a clear need for further research in this field.

Pathological gaming

Problematic gaming has typically been defined in the literature based on measures of pathological gambling. However, a variety of definitions and criteria have been used, leading to inconsistent estimates of the prevalence of problematic gaming (Desai et al., 2020 ). Following Lemmens et al. ( 2009 ), pathological gaming can be defined as excessive and compulsive use of computer or video games that causes social or emotional problems to the extent that game users cannot control their use of the game.

Previous research has investigated the consequences of pathological gaming, finding a relationship with anxiety disorders, low self-esteem, decreased school performance, increased hostility, or decreased empathy and social skills (Desai et al., 2020 ; Lloret et al., 2013 ; Rehbein et al., 2010 ). In fact, Desai et al. ( 2020 ) found that adolescents with problematic gaming were more likely to be engaging in risk behaviors such as smoking, drug use, and violence, as well as more likely to report depression.

On the contrary, some research has noted that some previous research has made it is unclear whether there is a relationship between self-difficulties and pathological gaming (e.g., Van Rooij et al., 2018 ). In fact, some authors suggest the need to exercise caution when approaching any diagnostic assessment related to pathological gaming, as the quality of previous research in this area is considered to be low and there is still no consensus on the symptomatology and assessment of pathological gaming (Aarseth et al., 2017 ). Vuorre et al. ( 2022 ) state that current evidence on the negative effects of violent video game use may be inadequate.

However, in spite of the potential role of pathological gaming on adolescent psychological adjustment, to date no study has analyzed its potential relationship with the commission of child-to-parent violence. Thus, due to the controversial results of previous literature on the relationship of pathological gambling and pathological video-gaming with violence, the association between the two variables needs to be further investigated (Aarseth et al., 2017 ; Di Blasi et al., 2019 ; Johannes et al., 2021 ; Przybylski and Weinstein ( 2019 ); Rehbein et al., 2010 ).

Justification of violence

Continuing with social learning theory, one of the components that influence behavioral learning are personal cognitive variables. In the area of CPV, a cognitive risk factor that contributes to its development is the justification of violence, this is, the belief in the acceptance of violent behavior. Galán ( 2018 ) indicated that young people who are exposed to violence in different contexts may become desensitized to violence, and, therefore, normalize violent behavior.

In this line, Orue et al. ( 2019 ) state that CPV could be predicted by the social information processing components of aggressive response and anger, for example, the justification of violence. More recent studies find that exposure to domestic violence is positively associated with the justification of violence, and this, in turn, with CPV (Contreras et al., 2020 ; Junco-Guerrero et al., 2021 ). This implies that adolescents who commit CPV could normalize the use of violence, so they can more easily access aggressive responses and they consider aggression to be an appropriate conflict resolution strategy.

On the other hand, social cognitive theories, such as the General Aggression Model (Anderson & Bushman, 2002 ), emphasize the significance of cognitive components, including normative beliefs about aggression or aggressive scripts, which may contribute to an increase in aggressive behavior. In this context, Gilbert et al. ( 2013 ) examined the influence of three cognitive structures related to aggression (behavioral scripts, early maladaptive schemas, and normative beliefs), and found a positive association of violence-accepting beliefs with increased aggressive behavior.

To date, numerous studies have tried to analyze the relationship between the use of violent video games and the development of violent behaviors, their results not being conclusive though. Conversely, some research has tried to study the relationship between pathological gaming and aggressive behavior. However, despite that violent video games have consistently been identified as the most popular among consumers (Dill et al. ( 2005 )), to date no study has analyzed the influence of violence in video games and pathological gaming on CPV. On another hand, although some studies have found a relationship between the justification of violence and CPV perpetration, to date, no research has analyzed the role of video games in this context.

Therefore, the main objective of this study was to analyze, in a sample of secondary education students, the relationship of the exposure to violent video games, pathological video-gaming and justification of violence with the perpetration of Child-to-Parent Violence (CPV), controlling for the sex, educational level and violent TV exposure of the participant. All these relationships were analyzed both in the case of CPV against the mother and the father.

Based on prior research, we propose the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1 (H1). Regarding exposition to violence in videogames and CPV no specific hypothesis was made, due to the incongruent results in previous studies results regarding the association with aggressive behavior.

Hypothesis 2 (H2). Pathological gaming would be associated with higher levels of CPV.

Hypothesis 3 (H3). Justification of violence would be associated with higher levels of CPV.

Hypothesis 4 (H4). The exposure to violence on television would be associated with higher levels of CPV.

Sampling method and study population

The current study follows a correlational and cross-sectional design and has been conducted in Málaga (Spain). The sample of this study consisted of 439 participants, 238 males, and 201 females, from 7 different centers of Secondary Education. All the participating centers were located in neighborhoods with a medium socioeconomic level, except for two of them, which belonged to a neighborhood with a medium-high socioeconomic level. Three centers were private subsidized schools, and four centers were public schools. Convenience sampling was employed because it provides easier access to the sample and implies a greater willingness of the participants to take part in the study.

Participants’ ages ranged from 13 to 18 years ( M  = 15.30, SD  = 1.17), with 147 of them (33.5%) aged 13 to 14, 205 (46.7%) aged 15 to 16, and 87 (19.8%) aged 17 to 18. Regarding how often they play video games, 121 adolescents (27.6%) play less than once a month, 62 (14.1%) play between once or 3 times a month, 92 (21%) play once or twice a week, 70 (15.9%) play three or four times a week, 27 (6.2%) play five or six times a week, and 67 (15.3%) play at least once a day. With respect to the marital status of the parents, most of them were married (69.4%), followed by those who were separated or divorced (21.9%). A smaller percentage cohabited without being married (4.8%), while in some cases, one or both parents were deceased (3.1%). Additionally, a small percentage represented single parents (0.5%) or adoptive parents (0.4%).

To obtain the sociodemographic data of the participants, a set of questions regarding the city of origin, sex, age, and school grade was included. A question on the marital status of the parents was also included. The measures used to evaluate the variables of interest for the study are described below:

Exposure or use of violent video games

This questionnaire was designed based on the items elaborated by Przybylski and Weinstein ( 2019 ). Participants had to indicate, on the one hand, the frequency with which they play video games, the names of the video games they have played in the last 6 months, and the number of hours played. On the other hand, they had to indicate the names of the three video games they have played the most in their whole life. In order to categorize these video games as non-violent or violent, the classification proposed by the European PEGI (Pan European Game Information; https://pegi.info ) system was used. PEGI is a rating system used in more than 35 European countries, developed by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE). The criteria followed to consider a participant as a violent video game player were as follows: (1) one of the video games described as the most played in their lifetime is either a video game suitable for over-18-year-olds or two video games suitable for over-16-year-olds; or (2) participants indicate that they have played violent video games for more than 50 h in the last 6 months, taking into account the age rating of the games (multiplying by 1 the number of hours in the case of games suitable for over-16-year-olds, and by 2 if the game is suitable for over-18-year-olds).

Cuestionario de Exposición a la Violencia (CEV, Exposure to Violence Questionnaire; Orue & Calvete, 2010 )

This questionnaire has a total of 21 items, which evaluate exposure to violent behaviors in different contexts. Participants indicate the frequency with which violent actions have occurred in the different contexts. Each item is scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 ( never ) to 4 ( every day ). In this case, only scores for violence exposure on television (e.g., “How often have you seen a person insult someone on TV?”) were taken into account. In this study, Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient for the Television Violence Exposure scale was 0.82.

Justification of Violence Subscale from the “Escala de Creencias Irracionales para Adolescentes” (ECIA; Adolescents’ Irrational Belief Scale; Cardeñoso & Calvete, 2004 )

This subscale consists of 9 items that evaluate the justification of the use of violence, that is, adolescents’ approval of aggression in certain circumstances (e.g., “Sometimes they may hit us for our own good”). The items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( very much ). In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.80.

Assessment of Pathological Computer-Gaming (AICA-S; Wölfling et al., 2010 )

This 15-item scale assesses addicted video gaming behavior not quantified with the criteria of pure time spent playing, which is considered an important but not sufficient criterion, but also by means of further criteria such as craving, tolerance, and continued consumption. The items on the scale represent all the established criteria of pathological computer-gaming. Using patterns (e.g., “How many hours do you spend playing on a day of the weekend?”) and aspects of emotion regulation of video game behavior (“How often do you play to avoid negative feelings such as boredom and grief?”) were included. The items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale or in an open answering pattern. For the purpose of the study, the 2 open-answer items (“How many hours do you play on an average weekday? ”and “How many hours do you play on a day of the weekend?”) were codified in a 1- to 4-point scale.

Child-to-Parent Aggression Questionnaire (CPAQ; Calvete et al., 2013 )

This instrument assesses violence performed by adolescents against their parents. It consists of 20 parallel items: 10 referring to the mother, and 10 to the father. In each block of 10 items, 7 of them refer to psychological violence (e.g., “You yelled at your mother/father when you were angry”), and 3 to physical aggression (e.g., “You have pushed or hit your mother/father in a fight”). In addition to the items in the original questionnaire, an item was included to assess financial violence (“You have taken money from your father/mother without permission”). Participants should indicate how often they have committed these types of aggressions against their parents in the past year on a Likert scale ranging from 0 ( never, this has not happened in my relationship with my mother or father ) to 3 ( very often, it has occurred 6 times or more ). In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.72 and 0.68 for physical violence against fathers and mothers, and 0.71 and 0.73 for psychological violence against fathers and mothers, respectively.

First, the approval of the Ethical Committee of Experimentation of the University of Málaga was obtained, with registration number 44-2020-H. Permission was sought from the different schools to administer the survey within them. Thus, at each school, the first contact was held with the School Board and the Department of Educational Guidance, explaining the nature and objective of the research to obtain their consent. All the center Managers we contacted were willing to participate in the research. The questionnaire was applied in 7 centers in southern Spain.

To collect data, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the students after providing them with general information about the survey. To ensure student privacy, the participation was anonymous and voluntary. The participants were requested to give their informed consent and were informed that the completion of the questionnaire was strictly confidential and voluntary, so none of them should specify data that could identify them. All the students who were requested to participate were willing to do so. Parents were notified and given the option of refusing to allow their child’s participation. None of the parents refused to allow their child to participate. The administration of the questionnaire was carried out in groups, in school classrooms or the assembly hall, leaving a space between the participants to avoid influence between classmates. The survey was conducted in the presence of a teacher, with two trained researchers administering it. They remained present in the classroom throughout the survey and readily addressed any doubts or queries that the participants had.

Data analysis

The statistical analyzes of the present ex post facto study were carried out using the statistical package SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), version 26. Multiple hierarchical linear regression analyses were used (with a probability for input F of p  = 0.05 and output of p  = 0.10), in order to analyze the relationship of violent video games, pathological video-gaming, justification of violence, sex, educational level, and violent TV exposure of the participant with CPV. Following the usual protocol (Cohen & Cohen, 1983 ), centered scores were used in order to avoid multicollinearity problems. Previously, a partial correlation matrix between the variables in the study, controlling for participants sex and academic level, was calculated to verify the pattern of relationships and to identify excessively high correlations between variables.

Data was made openly available at the repository osf.io: https://osf.io/6cb2y/?view_only=4c947e8ab61340b6ba556b591df71e23 .

Table 1 shows descriptive data on exposure to video games and television violence, pathological video-gaming, justification of violence, and CPV (psychological, physical, and economic, against both parents).

For this study, the CPV variables (psychological, physical, and financial) were combined into the variables total CPV against the mother and total CPV against the father. The partial correlation matrix between the variables in the study, controlling for participants sex and academic level, was calculated to verify the pattern of relationships, and to identify excessively high correlations between variables ( r  > 0.90; Kline, 2015 ), which indicate collinearity. As can be seen in Table 2 , collinearity was not a problem. The pattern of correlations was as expected, -with a global relationship between pathological video-gaming, exposure to television violence, justification of violence, and violence against the mother and the father- with the exception of the exposure to violent videogames, which was not related to CPV towards mother nor father.

In order to analyze the proportion of variance explained by each variable, an analysis of the CPV predictor variables was performed using 2 linear multi-step regressions for total CPV, towards the father and total CPV towards the mother. In a first step, the control variables (sex, the academic level of the participant, and exposure to violent TV) were introduced and, in a second step, the violent videogames exposure, pathological video-gaming and violence justification variables Tables 3 , 4 .

In relation to the total CPV towards the mother, results yielded a multiple linear regression model with R² = 0.23, F (6, 419) = 21.10, p  < 0.001. This model shows a relationship of participant sex ( β  = 0.14, p  < 0.01), academic level ( β  = 0.13, p  < 0.01), violence justification ( β  = 0.39, p  < 0.001), and pathological video-gaming ( β  = 0.12, p  < 0.01) with the total CPV towards the mother. However, a relationship between violent videogames exposure and CPV towards mother wasn´t found ( β  = −0.04, p  < 0.403). Although the relationship with violent TV exposure was statiscally significant, its effect size was too small ( β  = 0.10, p  < 0.05) (Ferguson & Heene, 2021 ).

In relation to the total CPV towards the mother, results yielded a multiple linear regression model with R² = 0.15, F (6, 414) = 12.20, p  < 0.001. This model shows a relationship of violence justification ( β  = 0.30, p  < 0.001) and pathological video-gaming ( β  = 0.16, p  < 0.001) with the total CPV towards the father. However, the relationships of participants sex ( β  = 0.04, p  < 0.423), academic level ( β  = 0.04, p  < 0.360) and violent videogames exposure ( β  = −0.07, p  < 0.191) with CPV towards father weren´t significant. Again, in spite of the relationship with violent TV exposure being statiscally significant, its effect size was too small ( β  = 0.10, p  < 0.05).

The present study contributes to increase the knowledge about CPV, a growing type of intrafamilial violence in our society, analyzing the relationship between this type of violence and various variables that could be as risk factors for its development. The main objective of the study was to analyze the associations of the exposure to violent video games, pathological video-gaming, and justification of violence with the perpetration of Child-to-Parent Violence (CPV) against the father and the mother, controlling for the sex, educational level, and violent TV exposure of the participant.

Regarding the first hypothesis proposed in the study, the results do not suggest the existence of a relationship between exposure to violence in video games and levels of CPV. These results are in line with previous research, which suggests that exposure to violent video games does not lead to an increasement of violence behavior in young people, and even link such exposure to increased well-being (Ferguson et al., 2015 ; Johannes et al., 2021 ; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2019 ). In fact, a research of Beerthuizen et al. ( 2017 ) in which they analyzed the effects of the launching of a specific video game ( Grand Theft Auto V ), found a decrease in juvenile delinquency records in the Netherlands between 2012 and 2014, obtained from the Dutch Offenders Index (DOI) and the Public Prosecutor’s Services (PPS). However, other studies have found that exposure to violent video games can be associated with an increase of aggressive thoughts and feelings and aggressive behaviors while decreasing prosocial behaviors (Anderson & Bushman, 2001 ; Romanchych ( 2018 ); Shao and Wang ( 2019 )). Therefore, we are facing a little-explored topic in which contradictory data are found, in addition to a shortage of studies referring to the effects on CPV in particular. This emphasizes the necessity for additional research on the relationship between exposure to violent video games and violent behavior, as well as the requirement for longitudinal studies that can establish causal relationships.

With regard to the second hypothesis (H2. Pathological gaming would be associated with higher levels of CPV), the results show a significant relationship of pathological gaming with CPV committed against both the mother and the father. However, the fact that the effect sizes found were small ( β  = 0.12 and β  = 0.16 regarding CPV towards mother and father respectively) requires interpreting these results with caution. These findings align with those found by authors such as Vara ( 2017 ) regarding general aggressiveness. Vara ( 2017 ), for example, confirmed the hypothesis of the relationship between pathological gaming and aggressiveness in secondary school students in Peru. However, due to the controversial results of previous literature on the relationship between pathological gambling and violence, the association between the two variables needs to be further investigated (Aarseth et al., 2017 ; Di Blasi et al., 2019 ; Johannes et al., 2021 ; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2019 ; Rehbein et al., 2010 ).

With regard to the third hypothesis of the study (H3: The justification of violence would be associated with higher levels of CPV), this relationship is suggested by results. A significant relationship was found with CPV against both the mother and the father. These data are consistent with the research of Junco-Guerrero et al. ( 2021 ) in which children who justified hostile behaviors were found to commit higher rates of CPV. In this line, some studies suggest that CPV could be predicted by the social information processing components, for example, the justification of violence (Orue et al., 2019 ).

Finally, regarding the fourth hypothesis (H4: The exposure to violence on television would be associated with higher levels of CPV), the existence of a relationship of TV exposure with CPV committed against the mother and father wasn´t supported by our data. This finding contradicts several studies showing that television violence has a direct effect on the learning and acquisition of hostile behaviors, as well as desensitization to violence, which is perceived as being socially accepted and habitual (Orue & Calvete, 2012 ). Fitzpatrick et al. ( 2016 ) also suggest that exposure to violence, especially in the case of television, during the preschool years is a risk factor for the development of aggressive behaviors.

This research presents some limitations that should be taken into account. The main limitation is the correlational nature of the study. The findings of the present study should be replicated through longitudinal designs, which would allow examining the directions and strength of causal relationships. In addition, the sample is limited to a single informant from the Andalusian region, which could compromise the generalization of the results. It would also be important to carry out future studies that include other informants, such as parents or educators. Finally, in this research, we make inferences about the consequences of video game playing on the adolescent population as a whole. But specific groups of players who share factors associated with the use of technology, such as material deprivation, may be influenced differently by video game use.

Conclusions and Implications

Despite the previous limitations, this study contributes to increasing knowledge about CPV in general and, specifically, the variables that could be associated with this phenomenon. Therefore, it provides valuable information for the prevention of this type of violence. Although much research has analyzed the influence of video games, almost no study had done so to date in the context of CPV. In this research, we found that the exposure to violent in video games is not associated with CPV rates. However, we found a significant relationship between pathological gaming and CPV committed against both parents. This could imply that the impact of exposure to video games on CPV varies depending on the presence of pathological gaming, but not on violent video games consumption per se. However, the fact that the strength of the relationships found between pathological gaming and CPV is not very high suggests the existence of other variables that undoubtedly also play a role in the origin of CPV. For example, recent studies have shown that violent behavior has significant biological, evolutionary, and genetic origins (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009 ).

Therefore, considering the ongoing debate about the relationship between exposure to general and violent video games with violent behavior, it becomes essential to conduct research that can test causal relationships between these variables. As this study is of a correlational nature, it is not possible to draw such conclusions. In addition, the results also show a significant relationship of justification of violence and CPV committed against both parents.

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cause and effect of video games essay

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  1. Negative Effects of Video Games on Children

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  2. (DOC) " EFFECTS OF ONLINE GAMES TO THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

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  3. The Negative Effects of Video Games on Children

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  4. Video Games Cause and Effects on Children Free Essay Example

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  6. Cause and Effect Games and Centers

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  1. Cause-and-Effect Essay

  2. Gaming Has Gone Too Far

  3. 10 lines essay on Importance of games

  4. Cause and Effect

  5. How to write a Cause-and-Effect essay by Amer Al Hasani

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COMMENTS

  1. 15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

    One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. ... Online Cause-and-Effective Essay Alternatives. Lawrence Otis Graham examines racism, and whether ...

  2. Video Games and Their Impact: [Essay Example], 433 words

    In conclusion, video games can be a valuable tool for the cognitive and intellectual development of individuals. They require players to exercise various skills such as attentiveness, fast reaction times, logical thinking, and problem-solving. Additionally, video games can also benefit adults by improving communication, resourcefulness, and ...

  3. Effects of Video Games

    Studies indicate that video games, especially those that are violent, reshape the behavior of children. Moreover, video games could contain some sort of competition and aggression, which affect the reasoning of children. In the current society, the rate at which conflicts occur in society has increased.

  4. Effects of Video Games: 15 Articles for a Compelling Essay

    Positive Effects Article 2: "Game Reward Systems: Gaming Experiences and Social Meanings". Researchers Hao Wang and Cheun-Tsai Sun use examples of rewards systems from many popular and iconic video games from various genres to support their argument that these systems have positive social effects on players.

  5. The health effects of too much gaming

    gaming preoccupation. withdrawal. tolerance. loss of interest in other activities. downplaying use. loss of relationship, educational, or career opportunities. gaming to escape or relieve anxiety, guilt, or other negative mood states. failure to control. continued gaming despite psychosocial problems.

  6. 15.9 Cause-and-Effect Essay

    One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. Video game players often hide in their homes or in Internet cafés for days at a time—only reemerging for the most pressing tasks and necessities. The effect of this isolation can lead to a breakdown of communication skills and often a loss in ...

  7. The Effects of Video Games: [Essay Example], 1134 words

    There have been very few studies that have examined the long-term effects of playing violent video games. In a recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology, Dr. Gregor Szycik of the Hannover Medical School, and colleagues, investigated the long-term effects of playing violent video games. "The research question arises first from the fact ...

  8. Video Games and Its Positive Effects

    Introduction. "Video games foster the mindset that allows creativity to grow", said Nolan Bushnell. Video games, a highly debated subject for many parents, have been the subject of social stigmas for a long time. Many believe that video games do more harms than goods, and waste precious time for kids and adults alike, time that could be ...

  9. Impact of Videogames on Children

    Conclusion. Altogether, videogames have both positive and negative effects on children. They might precondition the development of chronic diseases and extra weight, high anxiety, and depression levels, along with the changes in brain functioning. The highly-addictive nature increases the risks of spending too much time in games.

  10. Writing for Success: Cause and Effect

    Cause and Effect Essay Example. Effects of Video Game Addiction. By Scott McLean. Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day.

  11. 3.2: Cause and Effect Model Essay 1

    Thesis: Regardless of the severity of the addiction, many suffer detrimental effects. II. Supporting Topic Sentence 1: One common effect of video game addiction is isolation and withdrawal from social experiences. A. Hiding at home or an internet cafe. B. some interaction in gaming communities but.

  12. 4.4: Cause and Effect Essays

    Sample Cause-and-Effect Essay. Effects of Video Game Addiction. Video game addiction is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day.

  13. Student Sample: Cause and Effect Essay

    Cause and Effect Essay Example. Effects of Video Game Addiction. Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day.

  14. Cause And Effect Of Video Games

    One cause of playing video games is that people want to escape reality. They want to reduce the stress of competition in their real life by living in the virtual world of the game. Video games bring entertainment's virtual world for the player, so it has a great attraction to them. Dr. Kestenbaum, who is a clinical instructor in the ...

  15. PDF Video Game Addiction

    Another cause is the social aspect of video games. Many games offer online multiplayer options. that enable students to connect with friends or meet new players from around the world. The desire to. interact with others, especially when feeling isolated or lonely, can drive kids to spend excessive hours. gaming.

  16. Effects of Video Games on Children

    Negative Effects of Video Games. The evidence that video games increase violence among children is overwhelming. For example, a study in 2001 found that a high number of violence cases in high schools and universities were orchestrated by persons who confessed to playing violent games regularly. An explanation for this is that aggression is ...

  17. Cause And Effect Of Video Games Essay

    These effects include obsession, social isolation, and increased aggression and violence. There are also several health risks associated with gaming addiction such as seizures, obesity and even death. A 28-year-old man died from exhaustion. 1159 Words.

  18. Advantages and Disadvantages of Video Games

    Video games: advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, it is argued by many that video games can cause a lot of health problems. For instance, looking at the screen for long hours can harm eyes and cause vision impairment because the cornea and iris of the eyes are not intended for viewing electronic devices for a long time. Moreover, using video games for too long may also cause headaches ...

  19. Cause and Effect

    Cause and Effect Essay Example . Effects of Video Game Addiction. By Scott McLean. Video game addition is a serious problem in many parts of the world today and deserves more attention. It is no secret that children and adults in many countries throughout the world, including Japan, China, and the United States, play video games every day.

  20. Essay On Video Games Addiction Cause And Effect Sample

    Essay on Video Game Addiction - 3 (400 Words) Introduction. According to experts, the heart of a person with gaming addiction does not fill up very easily. In this, the person is constantly excited to play games. Things like crossing new levels and making high scores make them excited to play more.

  21. The Negative Effects of Video Games on Children

    Children who spend long hours playing video games have less time for physical activity, leading to a lack of exercise, weight gain, and health risks such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Additionally, prolonged exposure to screens can cause eye strain and other vision problems, such as nearsightedness or myopia, due to the ...

  22. Video Games, Violence Justification and Child-to-Parent Violence

    During the past decade, video games have become the main industrial entertainment sector, although research on the effects of violence in video games on juvenile aggressiveness has raised concerns that they may pose a significant social risk. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship of exposure to violent video games, pathological video-gaming, and justification of violence ...

  23. Harmful Effects of Video Games: [Essay Example], 584 words

    One of the most significant concerns regarding the harmful effects of video games is their impact on mental health. Research has shown that excessive gaming can lead to addictive behaviors, with individuals becoming so engrossed in the virtual world that they neglect other aspects of their lives. This can result in increased levels of stress ...

  24. The Impact of Video Games on Violence

    This trend suggests that video games are not a primary driver of violent behavior and that other factors, such as improved social programs and law enforcement, may be contributing to the decline in violence. Cross-cultural research further undermines the claim that video games cause violence. Countries such as South Korea and Japan, which have ...