In his 2012 study, Jed Jeng
examined the effect that alcohol placement in movies has on drinking in
adolescents. This is important topic of research because young people are
exposed to many films where alcohol and binge drinking plays a vital role in
the movie. Jeng references the 2009 comedy hit The Hangover and with the third installation of that same series premiering
this weekend this study is relevant because adolescents are exposed to heavy
alcohol use in films. Researchers
interviewed over 6,000 children ages 10 to 14 over the phone then conducted
follow up interviews 8-months, 16-months, and 24-months later. Researchers
controlled for predicting variables including: age, race, gender, parent,
parent alcohol use, alcohol availability, peer alcohol use, TV viewing, movie
alcohol exposure, unsupervised movie watching, ownership of alcohol
merchandise, sensation seeking, rebelliousness, school performance,
extracurricular involvement, and spending
money. After entering all the variables at once into predictive models,
researchers found that peer alcohol use, age, and movie alcohol exposure were
significant predictors of alcohol use and the transition to binge drinking.
The highest predictor was high peer
alcohol use. I found this stat the least surprising. I think more than
anything, if a child’s friends are drinking then they too will also drink.
While alcohol in movies was also a strong predictor, I think it really depends
on peer pressure. I think this study is important because it shows that alcohol
use in movies is something that affects the drinking behavior of adolescents
and raises questions on whether there should be restrictions on such content.
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