Developmental psychologist Douglas Gentile is a research scientist, author, award-winning educator, and one of the world's leading experts on the effects of mass media on children, adolescents, and adults. 

Dr. Gentile conducts scientific research on the positive and negative effects of media on children and adults, including such topics as media violence, video games, advertising, media ratings, and video game "addiction."

By studying the effects of media scientifically, he provides parents, educators, and policy makers with data that can help improve children's outcomes.

Recently Published Studies

• A clinical trial testing the effectiveness of the Switch® obesity-prevention intervention for 3rd to 5th grade children. Click here to read more.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics official policy statement on media violence.  Click here to read more.
• Three studies (experimental, correlational, and longitudinal) demonstrating that playing prosocial video games (where characters help other characters) increases prosocial helping behaviors.  Click here to read more.
• A national study of children 8-18 showing that 8% of American youth gamers could be classified as demonstrating pathological patterns of play, commonly called video game "addiction."  Click here to read more.

New video with discussion guide available!  Click here for more information.