Aggression in a digital world: problematic screen use, executive dysfunction and aggressive behaviors

The world is increasingly digital, and time on screens is growing globally. Whilst there are many benefits derived from the digital world, screen use may also come with some unintended consequences and costs. For example, it is now clear that many screen users engage at levels that are excessive, or have patterns of screen use that could be considered problematic or disordered. This problematic screen use (PSU) has already been linked to a range of negative outcomes, and evidence is now emerging for two effects with important social ramifications: the association of PSU with aggressive behaviour, and with decrements to executive functioning (EF). Recent meta-analyses find robust effects of problematic and disordered video gaming on a range of aggressive behaviours, and a growing number of empirical studies find relationships between aggressive behaviour and problematic video game, internet, social media and smartphone use. There is also an increasing body of brain imaging and cognitive function research finding clear evidence of both executive dysfunction related to excessive screen use and the likely neural substrates. Recent integrative work is synthesising these findings into a coherent narrative. Relevant to both of these effects is a substantial existing corpora of research linking executive dysfunction to aggressive behavior, new research that has quantified these effects meta-analytically, and a new model of aggressive behaviour in which EF is a central component. In this paper it will be argued that executive dysfunction may partially mediate the PSU-aggression link, but that substantial and targeted research is needed to determine these relationships.