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This research contributes to the extant literature on television influence by pairing a stimulus-side approach documenting how information is presented within a television series with a response-side assessment of whether connectedness and exposure to a series influence the processing of that information differently depending on its format. The inquiry focuses on the nature and impact of messages about alcohol contained within a youth-oriented television program. The findings indicate that the recall and perception of the more overt negative messages increase with exposure and that receptiveness to the subtle and less remembered positive messages increases with levels of program connectedness. Highly connected viewers are both more receptive to and in greater agreement with the underlying positive alcohol message communicated in the series., This research contributes to the extant literature on television (TV) influence by pairing a stimulus-side inquiry that documents how information is presented within a television series with a response-side assessment [...]

Systematic statewide youth surveys in the U.S. began in 1990 as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System--now commonly referred to as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)--designed by [...], This article summarizes two studies that use statewide school-based youth surveys to evaluate local initiatives to reduce alcohol and other substance abuse. The Vermont New Directions evaluation was conducted to assess the effects of a community-based intervention in 23 Vermont communities to reduce youth substance use. Outcome data were obtained from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is administered to students in grades 8 through 12 every other year in almost all school districts in the state. Based on a quasi-experimental design, results indicated significant declines in cigarette and marijuana use in intervention districts relative to comparison districts during the study period, and led to legislative action to continue funding the initiative. The Oregon Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol study is now being conducted in 36 Oregon communities (45 school districts) with a randomized controlled design to evaluate six combined environmental strategies to reduce underage drinking. The strategies include a reward and reminder program and minor decoy operations to reduce commercial alcohol availability, party patrol dispersal and minor in possession arrests to reduce social alcohol availability, traffic emphasis, and media advocacy to increase visibility of policy enforcement activities. KEY WORDS: Surveys, youth, subsance use, Oregon, alcohol.

As part of a larger study on television exposure, 1,276 shows from the 2001-2002 television season were coded for sexual content. Compared to previous research, this study sampled more networks targeted to adolescents and examined differences across additional program genres. A unique feature is the assessment of sexual content across network types. Three genres were distinguished by high percentages of shows with sexual behavior and talk and greater explicitness. This pattern characterized premium cable movie channels compared to broadcast and other cable networks. Few genres consistently offer programming that is free of sexual content during peak times for teen viewing., Among the sociocultural factors posited to influence young people's sexuality, the media have received significant attention--especially television, as it continues to be the medium used most by youth (Roberts, Foehr, [...]

Young people have well-developed beliefs about alcohol and its effects even before they have any personal experience with drinking (Miller et al., 1990; Goldman et al., 1987; Christiansen et al., [...], In an effort to ascertain how youths interpret, understand and respond to the themes and images portrayed in television alcohol advertisements, focus-group discussions were conducted with students ages 9-15 in a Northern California community. These discussions revealed that students like lifestyle and image-oriented elements of television beer commercials that are delivered with humor and youth-oriented music and/or characters. Conversely, they dislike product-oriented elements of alcohol commercials. Students identified the main message of television beer commercials as an exhortation to purchase the product based on its quality and its relationship to sexual attractiveness. Participants indicated that beer commercials imply that attractive young adults drink beer to personally rewarding ends. These findings suggest that television beer commercials may need to focus less on youthful lifestyle images and more on the product itself in order to appeal less to young people. KEY WORDS: Television, alcohol advertising, youth.

ObjectiveA California, USA, law raised the minimum tobacco sales age to 21 (T21) on 9 June 2016. We investigated whether T21 was associated with reductions adolescents’ use of tobacco cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and electronic cigarettes and whether these associations differed across racial and ethnic groups.MethodsSecondary analyses of data from 2 956 054 7th, 9th and 11th grade students who participated in the California Healthy Kids Survey from 2010–11 to 2017–2018.ResultsMultilevel mixed effects logistic regression analyses showed that T21 was associated with reduced prevalence of lifetime smokeless tobacco and e-cigarette use and past month smokeless tobacco use in the overall student population. T21 was associated with increases in prevalence of past month e-cigarette use. Moderation analyses indicated differences by racial and ethnic groups. Notably, T21 was associated with reductions in lifetime and past 30-day use of all tobacco and nicotine products among Latinx youth. The findings were more mixed for other racial and ethnic groups. Slopes analyses indicated that T21 was associated with accelerated downward trends for 30-day cigarette and smokeless use; moderated trends for lifetime cigarette smoking such that downward slopes became less steep; and reversed downward trends for e-cigarette use. Changes in slopes varied across racial and ethnic groups.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the importance of understanding the complex associations that T21 and other tobacco control policies have with the use of different tobacco and nicotine products among racial and ethnic groups. Future research should investigate mechanisms underlying these differences to inform tobacco control efforts.

Objective:This article provides a systematic review of cross-sectional research examining associations between exposure to alcohol marketing and alcohol use behaviors among adolescents and young adults.Method:Literature searches of eight electronic databases were carried out in February 2017. Searches were not limited by date, language, country, or peer-review status. After abstract and full-text screening for eligibility and study quality, 38 studies that examined the relationship between alcohol marketing and alcohol use behaviors were selected for inclusion.Results:Across alcohol use outcomes, various types of marketing exposure, and different media sources, our findings suggest that cross-sectional evidence indicating a positive relationship between alcohol marketing exposure and alcohol use behaviors among adolescents and young adults was greater than negative or null evidence. In other words, cross-sectional evidence supported that alcohol marketing exposure was associated with young peoples’ alcohol use behaviors. In general, relationships for alcohol promotion (e.g., alcohol-sponsored events) and owning alcohol-related merchandise exposures were more consistently positive than for other advertising exposures. These positive associations were observed across the past four decades, in countries across continents, and with small and large samples.Conclusions:Despite issues of measurement and construct clarity within this body of literature, this review suggests that exposure to alcohol industry marketing may be important for understanding and reducing young peoples’ alcohol use behavior. Future policies aimed at regulating alcohol marketing to a greater extent may have important short- and long-term public health implications for reducing underage or problematic alcohol use among youth.

We describe the rationale for and design of an independent evaluation of the Global Smart Drinking Goals (GSDG) program. The primary purpose of this program, supported by the AB InBev Foundation, is to reduce harms associated with alcohol use by 10%. Our evaluation focuses on the effects of prevention strategies sponsored by the Foundation that are being implemented in six city pilots located in as many countries. These strategies are designed to reduce heavy episodic drinking, underage drinking, drink driving, and alcohol-related violence. Each city pilot has been matched with a comparison city in which the GSDG program will not be implemented. In this quasi-experimental community trial, we will assess each city pilot’s progress toward reaching its harm reduction goals, relative to its comparison city, by means of annual adult and youth surveys. We will then supplement these analyses by the use of pertinent local archival data, where available. We discuss several challenges related to this evaluation and its quasi-experimental design. These include operating in a fluid and unpredictable environment in regard to the implementation, adaptation, and (on occasion) abandonment of the prevention strategies selected by each city pilot. We also discuss issues concerning our decision to accept funding from the alcohol industry and the measures we have taken to ensure the independence of our evaluation.

ObjectiveWe conducted meta-analyses of studies that investigated the associations between tobacco outlet density around homes and schools and adolescents’ past-month cigarette smoking.Data sourcesSystematic literature searches of eight databases were carried out in February 2017. Searches were not limited by date, language, country or peer-reviewed status.Study selectionAfter screening for quality, studies that examined the relationship between tobacco outlet density and adolescents’ past-month smoking were selected for inclusion.Data extractionTwo investigators screened study abstracts and full texts and independently extracted data. Consensus was reached at each stage.Data synthesisRandom-effects meta-analyses were conducted on 11 studies that provided 13 effect sizes. Results showed that there was a significant association between tobacco outlet density around homes and adolescents’ past-month smoking behaviour, with an overall effect size of OR=1.08 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.13; P<0.001; I2=0%). For density around schools, the association was not statistically significant (OR=1.01, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.03; P=0.53; I2=39%).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that exposure to tobacco outlets near home environments may be important for understanding adolescents’ past-month smoking. Restricting access to tobacco outlets and controlling the number of outlets in residential areas may be an effective preventive strategy to help reduce adolescents’ smoking.

National surveys of adolescents consistently show that alcohol is the drug of choice among young people in most countries (e.g., CCSA/CAMH, 1999; Hibell et al., 1997; Johnston, O'Malley & Bachman, [...], Policy approaches to prevention have considerable promise for addressing underage drinking and its associated problems. Based on the available evidence, the most effective policies appear to be (a) taxation or price increases, (b) increases in the minimum drinking age, and (c) graduated licensing or zero tolerance. Random breath testing and sobriety checkpoints also appear promising, although there is little evidence for their effectiveness specifically with young people. Major changes in the conditions of sale (e.g., privatization) may also affect the availability of alcohol to young people and thus underage drinking. The evidence is less convincing, however, for the effects of more modest license restrictions (e.g., limiting outlet density, hours of sale), responsible beverage service, advertising restrictions, warning labels, keg registration, and school policies. It is clear from the available research that no policy can be effective unless it is accompanied by enforcement and by awareness on the part of the intended targets of both the policy and the enforcement efforts. KEY WORDS: Underage drinking, prevention, adolescents, alcohol policy.

Summary Points * Adolescents are exposed to many sexual images and messages on television that are almost universally presented in a positive light with little discussion of potential risks and [...]

Estimates of economic and social costs related to alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and abuse are usually made at state and national levels. Ecological analyses demonstrate, however, that substantial variations exist in the incidence and prevalence of AODuse and problems including impaired driving, violence, and chronic disease between smaller geopolitical units like counties and cities. This study examines the ranges of these costs across counties and cities in California. We used estimates of the incidence and prevalence of AODuse, abuse, and related problems to calculate costs in 2010 dollars for all 58 counties and an ecological sample of 50 cities with populations between 50,000 and 500,000 persons in California. The estimates were built from archival and public‐use survey data collected at state, county, and city levels over the years from 2009 to 2010. Costs related to alcohol use and related problems exceeded those related to illegal drugs across all counties and most cities in the study. Substantial heterogeneities in costs were observed between cities within counties. AODcosts are heterogeneously distributed across counties and cities, reflecting the degree to which different populations are engaged in use and abuse across the state. These findings provide a strong argument for the distribution of treatment and prevention resources proportional to need. Per capita, alcohol abuse cost $3,450 and drug abuse cost $1,175 in California in 2010. The burden was concentrated in the more rural northern and central areas of the state excluding the San Francisco Bay area. Alcohol burden always exceeded drug burden. The difference was greatest in the north central valley, more rural southern counties and Los Angeles. Illicit drug use played a more prominent role in the state's northern tier and San Francisco Bay area.

To identify drinking contexts toward which prevention efforts should be directed, associations of context‐specific alcohol use (past‐year frequency of drinking and heavier drinking in the context) with a range of alcohol‐related problems were examined in a population sample of adolescents. A sample of youths (ages 15 to 18) residing in 50 medium‐to‐large California cities (n= 473 drinkers) was obtained. Respondents provided information about 7 past‐year alcohol‐related problems in 3 domains (physiological consequences, alcohol‐related violence, and conflict/trouble) and the number of times in the past year they used 6 distinct drinking contexts (parties, restaurants/bars, parking lots/street corners, beaches/parks, respondent's home without parents, and someone else's home without parents). Context‐specific dose–response model was estimated for each context using censored Tobit models with heteroskedasticity corrections. Physiological problems were associated with more frequent drinking in 5 of 6 contexts. Heavier drinking in restaurants/bars/nightclubs (b= 0.22, SE = 0.10) and someone else's home without parents (b= 0.14, SE = 0.06) was associated with greater risk of violence. Conflict/trouble was associated with more frequent drinking in parking lots/street corners, declining at higher levels of drinking. Certain drinking contexts are related to problems among youths, some because they are associated with frequent alcohol consumption and others because they are associated with heavier drinking. Identifying which drinking contexts are related to specific alcohol‐related problems and why is an essential component of developing effective preventive interventions.

Abstract: This article presents the proceedings of a workshop at the 2003 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The organizers and chairs were Vivian Faden and Nancy Day. The presentations were (1) Lessons Learned From the Lives Across Time Longitudinal Study, by Michael Windle and Rebecca Windle; (2) Methodological Issues in Longitudinal Surveys With Children and Adolescents, by Joel Grube; (3) The Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study: Methodological and Conceptual Challenges, by Brooke Molina, William Pelham, Elizabeth Gnagy, and Tracey Wilson; and (4) Lessons learned in Conducting Longitudinal Research on Alcohol Involvement: If Only I Had Known Before Hand! by Kristina Jackson and Kenneth Sher.

Background: This study examined the relationship between ethnicity and driving after drinking (DD) and riding with drinking drivers (RWDD) while controlling for drinking patterns, driving practices, and background demographic characteristics including age and gender.

Background: Much attention has recently been directed toward developing preventive interventions to reduce drinking and driving through efforts to limit the numbers and locations of alcohol outlets at the community level. Although evaluations of these efforts have suggested linkages between alcohol outlets and problem outcomes, they have not addressed the linkage between outlets and drinking and driving among youth. The analysis reported here investigats the relationship between alcohol outlet densities and underage drinking and driving as self‐reported on two telephone surveys conducted in California.

This article presents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2001 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Montreal, Canada. The symposium was organized and chaired by Joel W. Grube. The presentations and presenters were (1) Introduction and background, by Susan E. Martin; (2) The effect of alcohol ads on youth 15–26 years old, by Leslie Snyder, Mark Hamilton, Fran Fleming‐Milici, and Michael D. Slater; (3) A comparison of exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking behavior in elementary versus middle school children, by Phyllis L. Ellickson and Rebecca L. Collins; (4) USC health and advertising project: assessment study on alcohol advertisement memory and exposure, by Alan Stacy; and (5) TV beer and soft drink advertising: what young people like and what effects? by Meng‐Jinn Chen and Joel W. Grube.

This research investigated the relationship between male self-acceptance and attraction toward traditional and nontraditional women. Undergraduate males of low, medium, or high self-acceptance were exposed to video-taped job interviews of undergraduate women playing traditional and nontraditional roles. A measure of interpersonal attraction was obtained for each model. Analysis of variance on this attraction measure revealed a significant interaction between level of self-acceptance and role model. Further comparisons revealed that the low self-acceptance males were more attracted to the traditional model than to the nontraditional model and less attracted to the nontraditional model than were high or medium self-acceptance males. The high self-acceptance males showed a tendency to be more attracted to the nontraditional than to the traditional model. These results were interpreted as suggesting that prejudice against nontraditional women may, in part, be a result of attempts to counter perceived threats to self-conceptions or self-esteem on the part of low self-acceptance males.

Earlier research has indicated that value changes initiated through self-confrontation procedures are apparently unidirectional-that is, occur only in a direction that serves positive self-conceptions. However, to rule out the possibility that the previous findings may be the result of statistical regression, the present study replicated this earlier research and controlled for this possible artifact. Results indicated that the experimental treatment led to significant increases in equality 3 to 5 weeks later only among respondents whose values were inconsistent with their self-conceptions. The results thus provide further support for Rokeach's (1973) theory of cognitive organization and change and suggest that it is unlikely self-confrontation can be used to manipulate values in whatever direction is arbitrarily decided upon by an experimenter.

It has been suggested that smoking among young people results from a need to confirm self-images and thus is more likely to be adopted by those whose self-images are similar to images of smokers. Conversely, nonsmoking is expected to occur among those whose self-images are similar to images of nonsmokers. This study investigates the similarity between value images of smokers and nonsmokers and the terminal and instrumental value systems of junior high school students and recent high school graduates. Overall, the respondents' value systems were considerably more similar to images of nonsmokers than to images of smokers. However, for both age groups, those identified as smokers or potential smokers were more similar to images of smokers than were nonsmokers. Moreover, potential smokers were less similar to images of nonsmokers than were nonsmokers or smokers. Unexpectedly, these latter groups did not differ significantly in their similarity to images of nonsmokers. These results partially replicate previous findings and generally support the hypotheses.