The purpose of this applied dissertation was to determine the extent of the relationship between exposure to violent video games and students' self-reported aggression. This study built on the work of a previous study and attempted to find the extent of the relationship between exposure to violent video games (the independent variable) as measured by the Free-Time Questionnaire and self-reported aggression (the dependent variable) as measured by the Youth Self-Report for middle school students (ages 11–13) at two different school settings located in northern New Jersey.

Middle school students (ages 11–13) from 2 different schools in 2 different school districts were asked to complete 2 surveys. The surveys were administered on 2 separate days, and the data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 18). This study used frequency, descriptive, and Pearson product-moment correlational statistics in an effort to make the findings more practical and simpler to interpret.

This researcher found a negative correlation between violent video-game exposure and self-reported aggression. Although the effect size was relatively weak (r = −.265), the direction of the relationship was negative nonetheless. The findings indicate that the video games that the adolescents are playing are extremely violent and explicit in content. The top two games listed most frequently as their favorite were both M-rated games.