This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Media restrictions needed for alcohol use in films among adolescent viewers
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Adolescents most exposed to alcohol use in films were nearly 25% more likely to try alcohol, 74% more likely to binge drink and more than twice as likely to consume alcohol on a weekly basis or report at least one alcohol-related problem compared with those least exposed, according to study results.
Previous research suggests an association between risky behavior exposure in the media and an increase in risky behavior during adolescence. However, data have not been adjusted to include early childhood confounders, according to background information provided in the study.
In the cross-sectional study, Andrea Waylen, PhD, of the School of Oral and Dental Sciences in the United Kingdom, and colleagues sought to assess exposure to alcohol use in films, age at alcohol use onset and binge-drinking behavior among adolescents aged 15 years (n=5,163) included in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the United Kingdom.
Adolescent participants answered questions in a computer-assisted interview that asked them if they had seen 50 randomly chosen films. They recorded the amount of time alcohol use was depicted in each film and the total exposure was the sum of durations in each film adolescents reported seeing.
The researchers then adjusted for adolescent tobacco use, early childhood social, family and behavioral factors as well as peer drinking confounders.
Overall, 85.7% of adolescents reported trying alcohol (95% CI, 84.7-86.6), 21.2% (95% CI, 20.1-22.4) reported current consumption of at least one drink per week, 46.6% (95% CI, 45.2-48) were considered binge drinkers and 42.6% (95% CI, 41.2-44) experienced at least one alcohol-associated problem.
Compared with those least exposed to alcohol use in films, those most exposed were 1.2-times (95% CI, 1.1-1.3) more likely to have consumed alcohol and 1.7-times (95% CI, 1.5-2) more likely to binge drink.
Moreover, those most exposed were 2.4-times (95% CI, 1.9-3.1) more likely to drink weekly and twofold (95% CI, 1.7-2.4) more likely to report alcohol-associated problems.
“Our findings provide evidence to support the argument that a review of film-rating categories and alcohol ratings for all films may help reduce problem-related alcohol consumption in young people,” Waylen and colleagues wrote. – by Jennifer Southall
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts