Who plays violent video games? An exploratory analysis of predictors of playing violent games

•A variety of social factors are correlated with playing violent video games.•These include many relationships not directly related to violence.•Many significant predictors are related to parentally-regulated behavior.•This suggests a possible connection to parenting styles and approaches.•Gender was the strongest predictor of playing violent games.

For roughly two decades, academics, politicians, and the media have debated the relationship between playing violent video games and engaging in violent acts. Despite the extensive attention paid to this possible outcome, no such spotlight has been placed on what leads to youth playing violent video games, which would provide the necessary context for potential later effects. The present study uses five datasets that include over 19,000 American youth in fifth through twelfth grades to provide an exploratory, inductive investigation into the predictors of playing violent video games. The results identify several themes of predictors of violent game play, including gender, family, health and nutrition, and various other social factors. These findings provide a foundation for future research to investigate and test these possible relationships.