Desensitized gamers? Violent video game exposure and empathy for pain in adolescents – an ERP study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Example of stimuli used in the task (Meng et al., 2012; Meng et al., 2023) (A and B); example of an EEG trial in the pain judgment task (C).

Note. Each trial started with a fixation cross (400 ms), followed by a black screen interval of 600–1200 ms (in steps of 200 ms) in order to minimize time-locked anticipatory processes. In the ERP blocks, the pictures were presented for 500 ms in a randomized order (Ikezawa et al., 2014) and in the behavioral rating block – for 1000 ms. Picture presentation was followed by a black screen with a white “respond” word in the middle until a response was given. Before the start of the next trial, a black screen appeared (200 ms).

Table 1. Main and interaction effects for the behavioral pain rating.

Effect	df	F	p	ηp^2
1. Time	1, 49	0.10	.752	.002
2. Pain	1, 49	225.01	<.000	.821
3. Time x Pain	1, 49	0.12	.734	.002
4. Pain x VVGE	1, 49	0.31	.583	.006
5. Time x Pain x VVGE	1, 49	0.10	.757	.002

Note. VVGE = Violent Video Game Exposure.

Figure 2. Grand average ERP waveforms averaged across 6 electrodes with marked time windows for the P3 and the LPP components: (A) pre-game condition, (B) post-game condition.

Table 2. Main and interaction effects for the P3 component.

Effect	df	F	p	ηp^2
1. Time	1, 47	0.42	.522	.009
2. Pain	1, 47	3.54	.066	.070
3. Time x Pain	1, 47	0.46	.501	.010
4. Pain x VVGE	1, 47	0.42	.523	.009
5. Time x Pain x VVGE	1, 47	0.22	.644	.005

Note. VVGE = Violent Video Game Exposure.

Figure 3. P3 amplitude as a function of Time (pre-game vs. post-game) and pain (painful vs. non-painful pictures).

Note. The main effect of pain was significant both in the pre-game and in the post-game conditions, but overall (across conditions) it was not significant (see text).

Table 3. Main and interaction effects for the LPP component.

Effect	df	F	p	ηp^2
1. Time	1, 47	4.79	.034	.093
2. Pain	1, 47	70.20	<.001	.600
3. Time x Pain	1, 47	0.02	.897	<.001
4. Pain x VVGE	1, 47	0.86	.358	.018
5. Time x Pain x VVGE	1, 47	0.09	.771	.002

Note. VVGE = Violent Video Game Exposure.

Figure 4. LPP amplitude as a function of Time (pre-game vs. post-game) and pain (painful vs. non-painful pictures).

Note. Significant effects of Pain and Time were found in both the pre- and post-gameplay measurements. In addition, a significant drop in LPP amplitude for painful pictures was observed from pre- to post-game measurements, while no significant changes were observed for the LPP amplitude for the non-painful pictures before and after playing the game.

Table 4. Main and interaction effects for the P3 component with C-ME as a covariate.

Effect	df	F	p	ηp^2
1. Time	1, 48	3.61	.064	.070
2. Pain	1, 48	1.53	.222	.031
3. Time x Pain	1, 48	4.02	.051	.077
4. Time x C-ME	1, 48	3.42	.071	.067
5. Pain x C-ME	1, 48	0.06	.082	.001
6. Time x Pain x C-ME	1, 48	4.75	.034	.090

Note. C-ME = Content-based Media Exposure to antisocial media content.

Figure 5. Visualization of the Time x pain x C-ME interaction for P3.

Note. C-ME moderated the level of P3 painful amplitudes before the game, but not after the game.

Meng, J., Hu, L., Shen, L., Yang, Z., Chen, H., Huang, X., & Jackson, T. (2012). Emotional primes modulate the responses to others’ pain: An ERP study. Experimental Brain Research, 220(3–4), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3136-2

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Meng, J., Li, Y., Luo, L., Li, L., Jiang, J., Liu, X. & Shen, L. (2023). The empathy for pain stimuli system (EPSS): Development and preliminary validation. Behavior Research Methods. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-023-02087-4

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Ikezawa, S., Corbera, S., & Wexler, B. E. (2014). Emotion self-regulation and empathy depend upon longer stimulus exposure. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(10), 1561–1568. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst148

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