Viewing violent sports not a trigger - no correlation between viewing sporting events and reported cases of child abuse, according to a study by the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington Univ - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 1997

Does the viewing of violent sporting events drive men to engage in behaviors such as murder and spousal abuse? Do children face a greater risk of abuse from the violence-crazed fans of televised sporting events? Researchers and the public have been puzzling over these questions more intently since 1992, when the media gave wide coverage to claims that the "biggest day of the year for violence against women" is Super Bowl Sunday.

The Super Bowl -- one of the world's most-watched television events and a popular excuse for raucous parties -- has been called the "day of dread" by women's groups seeking attention for a perceived link between violent sports and spousal abuse. The murder trial of ex-football star O.J. Simpson fueled speculation about a link between violent sports and the propensity for males to commit acts of violence.

Although some research has linked the viewing of sports violence with an increased incidence of murder and assaults, a study by Brett Drake and Shanta Pandey, assistant professors in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., finds no such correlation between reported cases of child abuse and the broadcast of national playoff games for baseball, basketball, hockey, or football. "Prior studies have probed linkages between professional sporting events and homicides and woman battering, but [ours] is the first to extend this inquiry to the linkage between professional sporting events and violence against children," Drake explains. "Our findings do not support the hypothesis that sporting events yield increases in the number of substantiated maleperpetrator child abuse cases."

Drake and Pandey began their research after noting that previous studies of sports-induced male aggression almost completely had ignored violence against children. Using statewide data from the Missouri Division of Family Services, the researchers examined daily rates of substantiated physical abuse of children by males to determine if they increased or decreased on days when major league playoff games were held in various sports. In addition, the St. Louis-area child abuse rates were checked for fluctuations related to home games of the St. Louis Blues hockey team, including separate analyses for games won or lost.

In what may offer some relief to sports tans, Drake and Pandey found no evidence of an association between male-perpetrated child abuse and any of the sporting events. "In plain terms," Drake indicates, "we found no storm of violence toward kids associated with the broadcast of violent team sports. It is conceivable that watching games might make the occasional man violent. But does violence against children escalate dramatically right after games? Our data says no."