Depiction Of Alcohol Research Articles

Support for a browser plug-in blocking online alcohol imagery among Australian participants: A qualitative interview study.

Alcohol depictions are extremely common online, and there is a reported relationship between alcohol exposure and alcohol use. A browser plug-in specifically designed to block online alcohol depictions may be helpful to prevent the uptake of alcohol or increased alcohol use. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted, examining participants' beliefs about the effects of online alcohol exposure and their support for developing the browser plug-in. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we found participants highlighted a clear impact of viewing alcohol online and offline alcohol use. Participants believed a browser plug-in that blocked alcohol was acceptable and would be especially useful for minors (to prevent alcohol initiation) and those who are aiming to reduce their alcohol use. Participants emphasised that viewing online alcohol exposure had an impact on drinking behaviours, such as increased craving and temptation. The browser plug-in was considered an easy intervention tool for both parents and people who are experiencing alcohol-related problems or trying to reduce their drinking. SO WHAT?: Participants' continuous support of an alcohol-blocking browser plug-in suggests that future health promotion strategies should consider the development of a prototype plug-in.

Time to ‘Wine’: A Content Analysis Investigating How Social Media Influencers Refer to Alcohol Use in Instagram’s Feed Posts and Stories

ABSTRACT This exploratory content analysis examines how well-known social media influencers (SMIs) refer to alcohol in their Instagram stories and feed messages. Guided by the attention, retention, and motivation processes of social cognitive theory, we explore the occurrence and frequency of alcohol depictions, product centrality (background vs. foreground), the type of use (implicit vs. explicit), and behavioral incentives (positive vs. negative outcomes). Stories and feed messages from 120 SMIs were coded over a four-week period. Four conclusions were drawn. (1) The majority of SMIs share alcohol in their feed messages, and even more do so in stories. (2) SMIs depict a larger number of alcohol references in stories than in feed posts. This, however, reflects a general trend whereby SMIs use ephemeral messages more often to share any type of content. (3) SMIs showcase alcohol use in an attention-grabbing way, independent of the message type under consideration. They emphasize the positive outcomes related to alcohol use and foreground the beverages in half of their alcohol depictions. (4) Some alcohol depictions from SMIs contain a clear brand name or logo, potentially indicating that these references are commercially driven. However, these depictions oftentimes do not explicitly reveal a partnership with the alcohol industry. Based on the findings, practical guidelines for media literacy interventions and future research are formulated.

방송통신심의위원회 회의록 내용분석 -5기 방송심의소위원회 아동·청소년 관련 심의를 중심으로-

The purpose of this research is to analyze the content of deliberation items concerning children·youth in the meeting minutes of the Subcommittee on Broadcast Deliberation in the Korea Communications Standards Commission. Through this analysis, we aim to identify the deliberation status, characteristics, and areas for improvement related to children·youth. From August 13, 2021, to December 20, 2022, the 5th Korea Communications Standards Commission's Subcommittee on Broadcast Deliberation conducted regular meetings and collected a total of 69 sets of meeting minutes. Among these, 84 deliberation items were subjected to final analysis from a total of 37 sets of meeting minutes. The analysis results are as follows: First, harmful factors to children·youth are keenly identified through viewer complaints. Second, programs with relatively less standardized features are more likely to have a pronounced negative impact on children·youth. Third, it was necessary to specify the deliberation regulations reflecting the protection perspective of children·youth. Fourth, it was found that there is a discernible need for broadcasting production guidelines geared towards the protection of children·youth from content encompassing hate speech, violence, as well as depictions of alcohol and tobacco consumption. Fifth, in order for the deliberation to take into account the developmental characteristics of children·youth, the child development specialist's participation in the deliberation process, the introduction of a participation system for general viewers, and establishment of a cooperative deliberation system with institutions related to children·youth were suggested.

“Boys are Allowed to be Drunk”: Exploring Gender Norms in Adolescents' Alcohol References Across Different Social Media Platforms and Message Types

With alcohol experiences increasingly shared on social media, this study investigated the construction and understanding of gender norms in alcohol posts: (a) whether stereotypical gender norms prevail across different platforms and message types (b) among adolescents. Focus group interviews with 47 adolescents (Mage = 16.21; SD = 1.22) indicated that social media are important outlets for reproducing stereotypical norms. While sharing alcohol depictions was deemed to be stereotypically female, there were gender differences in the acceptability of sharing certain types of alcohol depictions. As opposed to girls, it was more appropriate for males to depict extreme, negative alcohol behaviors. While girls acknowledged that ephemeral environments enabled them to feel comfortable sharing extreme alcohol behaviors, they carefully negotiated these references by limiting the number of these posts, highlighting female traits in them, and restricting this content to close friends only. Thus, alcohol-related social media posts are more stereotypical than actual drinking experiences, even in more deliberating message types including ephemeral ones.

What Cigarillo Companies are Putting on Instagram: A Content Analysis of Swisher Sweets' Marketing from 2013 to 2020.

Tobacco marketing includes text and visual content, which conveys important meaning to consumers and influences use. Little is known about the marketing tactics used by a popular brand of cigarillos on social media to promote their products, including their visual design. A content analysis was conducted to analyze text and visuals for all posts on Swisher Sweets' official Instagram account from Jan 23, 2013 to Feb 28, 2020. We assessed product depictions (e.g. warnings, smoking cues), presence of FDA-prohibited or potentially misleading claims (e.g. lower risk, organic), marketing tactics (e.g. celebrities, selling propositions), flavors, and demographic representation. We coded 1402 posts. Smoking cues (e.g. images of people smoking, product imagery) were in 764 posts (54.5%), and a warning appeared in 690 (49.2%) posts, but obscured in 29.4% of those instances (n = 203). No posts included FDA-prohibited claims, but some potentially misleading language was identified, including the use of words or visual depictions of smooth (n = 254, 18.1%) and quality/well-made (n = 239, 17%). Marketing tactics such as scarcity (n = 159, 11.3%), event promotion (n = 586, 41.8%), and alcohol depictions (n = 171, 12.2%) were common, and flavor names appeared in 598 posts (42.7%). People depicted were often young adults (n = 709, 50.6%), Black/African American (n = 549, 39.2%), and in groups (n = 473, 33.7%). Both text and visuals are used to market Swisher Sweets on their Instagram account. Using social images of young adults, especially Black individuals, signals the intended use of the product. These images of visual-based social media may influence appeal, glamorization, and normalization of cigarillo smoking among vulnerable populations. Tobacco marketing, including from popular cigarillo brands like Swisher Sweets, is widely used to influence consumer perceptions and behavior. Social media marketing includes text and visual, both of which increase product appeal and encourage use. Visual-based social media from the industry itself have been understudied, particularly for cigarillos. This study characterizes the ways in which Swisher Sweets uses text and visuals to market their products through their Instagram account, including smoking cues, potentially misleading language, use of celebrity endorsers, and promotion and sponsorship of events.

Alcohol Portrayals on Social Media (Social Media)

Alcohol Portrayals on Social Media (Social Media)

Magazines as contradictory spaces for alcohol messaging: a mixed method content and thematic analysis of UK women’s magazine representations of alcohol and its consumption

Background Women’s magazines provide a space in which gendered norms around alcohol-related practice are (re)-produced. They act as important points of reference for women to draw upon in their own understandings of alcohol use within their identity making. Studying the alcohol-related messages women’s magazines disseminate is therefore an important line of inquiry. Methods An analysis of textual and visual alcohol depictions, including alcohol advertising, in 70 editions of 20 printed magazines targeted at and read by women, published between August 2020 and January 2021, was conducted using quantitative content and qualitative thematic analysis. Results Women’s magazines have the potential to disseminate public health messages about the physical and mental health impacts of alcohol use, alcohol’s role in gender inequalities and the risk of harm from alcohol use by men. However, they do so in ways that reproduce harmful gender norms and expectations, and overlook the structural causes of alcohol-related harms. Associations between alcohol use and violence against women were simplified, in ways that ignored the root causes, produced victim-blaming narratives and deflected responsibility from the perpetrator to the effects of alcohol. Narratives around drinking and sobriety were underpinned by concerns over appearance, which reinforced social expectations of the ideal feminine body. Health narratives were in conflict with the presence of pro-alcohol messages such as consumption suggestions and alcohol advertising, which promoted alcohol use as a normalised aspect of women’s day to day lives. Conclusions Women receive a number of mixed and contradictory messages on alcohol use through their magazine readership, which places limits on magazines as educational sources of public health messaging.

Using social media comments to reduce alcohol purchase intentions: An online experiment.

Alcohol advertising is prevalent on social media. The current study sought to identify effective message types to pair with social media alcohol ads to minimise purchase intentions associated with exposure. A 6 (within) × 5 (between) randomised controlled experiment was conducted with n=723 US participants. Participants viewed six unique social media alcohol ads and were randomised to view one of four message types (i.e. pro-drinking comments, anti-drinking comments, industry responsibility messages and health warning labels) associated with the ads or the control (i.e. no messages). Purchase intentions were measured after each ad exposure. Significant main and interactive effects were determined by two-level, random intercept hierarchical linear models. Purchase intentions were significantly lower among participants who viewed anti-drinking comments relative to the control (P=0.022) and warning labels (P=0.016). Purchase intentions were significantly greater among participants who viewed pro-drinking comments and had a family history of alcohol use (P=0.032) and among those who viewed warning labels and were previously exposed to alcohol depictions through family and friends' social media posts (P=0.033). Anti-drinking messages, written by social media users, may be effective at reducing alcohol purchase intentions when posted as social media comments. Current industry responsibility messages had no effect, and caution may be needed if warning labels are applied to ads in this medium.

Observational learning of the televised consequences of drinking alcohol: Exploring the role of perceived similarity.

Aim:The depiction of alcohol on television is an important explanatory variable for drinking behaviour. Even though alcohol consumption is frequently shown on popular TV shows, research on the impact of TV characters as models of drinking behaviour remains scarce. We theorise that the perceived similarity to a TV character is a key mechanism to explain recipients' expectancies about alcohol consumption.Methods:We conducted two experiments in which we manipulated the drinking behaviour of a TV character and the consequences of drinking. We measured perceived similarity to the character as amediating variable and treated participants' alcohol consumption as a moderator.Results:In both studies, perceived similarity to models predicted positive expectancies about alcohol consumption, and perceived similarity decreased with the portrayal of an alcoholic character. In Study 1, participants who reported drinking rarely perceived themselves to be more similar to a rare drinker, which suggests that viewers' own alcohol consumption affects similarity judgments. In Study 2, portrayals of consequences of drinking directly affected expectancies about alcohol, moderated by participants' alcohol consumption.Conclusion:Overall, our findings suggest that perceived similarity is a key variable to understand how alcohol on television affects viewers’ expectancies toward alcohol.

Depictions of Alcohol in Australian TV 'Bachelor In Paradise': A Content Analysis.

AimsTo quantify the depictions of alcohol in the popular Australian reality TV show—Bachelor in Paradise (season 1: 2018).MethodsAll 16 episodes were coded in 1-min intervals for the presence of alcoholic beverage related content and non-alcoholic beverage content, and the categories of actual use, implied use and other references.ResultsAlcohol was highly prevalent in all episodes. Alcohol content occurred frequently, with 70.7% of intervals having any alcohol content. Actual alcohol use occurred in 31.9% of 1-min intervals, implied alcohol use occurred in 63.4% of intervals and other alcohol references occurred in 14.0% of intervals. Alcohol content was present in the first or second 1-min interval of all 16 episodes. Alcohol content was more than twice as prevalent as non-alcoholic content (34.0%).ConclusionsThe high volume of alcohol content depicted in the show is of concern, due to the important influence it may have on the audience. Vulnerable viewers, especially minors and young adults, are being exposed to ubiquitous alcohol references. This may influence their perceptions of normal alcohol use, their attitudes toward alcohol and their own consumption of alcohol. A stronger regulatory regime is required in Australia to protect young people more effectively from depictions in television programs.

Exposure to Digital Alcohol Marketing and Alcohol Use: A Systematic Review.

Objective:Alcohol marketing has proliferated on digital media, such as websites, social media, and apps. A systematic review was conducted to examine studies of associations between exposure to digital alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption.Method:Eight electronic databases were searched for “alcohol” and “marketing” through 14 February 2017. Studies were included if exposure to digital alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption, or related attitudes and intentions, were assessed. Studies were excluded if they only measured exposure to alcohol depictions posted online by family and friends. Study quality was also assessed.Results:In all, 25 studies were included, including 2 randomized controlled trials, 15 cross-sectional studies, and 8 prospective cohort studies. There was a consistent finding across studies that participation and engagement with digital alcohol marketing—such as clicking on an alcohol ad, visiting an alcohol-branded website, liking or sharing an ad on social media, or downloading alcohol-branded content—was positively associated with alcohol use. The effects of simple exposure to digital alcohol advertising were inconclusive. Proper blinding of subjects, measuring exposures before the outcomes, and measuring the exposures multiple times would improve study quality.Conclusions:Although more research is needed, existing studies suggest that engagement with digital alcohol marketing is positively associated with increased alcohol consumption and increased binge or hazardous drinking behavior. Governments should consider implementing digital alcohol marketing regulations under the precautionary principle as the alcohol industry’s self-regulated marketing codes are likely ineffective at protecting populations vulnerable to alcohol-related harm.

Portrayal of alcohol in Bollywood movies: A mixed methods study.

Introduction:Exposure to alcohol in popular movies during adolescence is associated with higher rates of alcohol use. We aimed to assess the extent and pattern of depiction of alcohol in Bollywood movies, and to analyze the trends in portrayal of alcohol over three decades selected for the study.Materials and Methods:We selected the top five grossing movies for each year of the three decades selected (1961–1970; 1981–1990; and 2001–2010). Content analysis was conducted for each scene depicting alcohol in the movie. We compared quantitative variables across the three decades to assess for any changes in the portrayal of alcohol and performed qualitative content analysis for the text description of the context, in which alcohol was depicted in each movie.Results:Of the total 150 movies analyzed, 135 (90%) movies contained at least one scene depicting alcohol. Alcohol scenes comprised 7% of the total movie time. Majority of the scenes (92.2%, n = 976) showed the substance (alcohol) itself. Spirits were the most common alcohol beverages depicted (75.1%, n = 733). Only 7.9% of scenes (n = 84) depicted alcohol brands. About 67% (n = 709) of scenes showed characters consuming alcohol or appeared intoxicated. Most scenes portrayed hero (n = 253, 35.7%) consuming alcohol. Female characters were depicted in 7.5% (n = 53) alcohol scenes. The third decade (2001–2010) had the least proportion of scenes depicting Spirits and the highest proportion of scenes depicting beer and wine. Decade three also had the most proportion of scenes set in clubs, bars, discotheques or restaurants, scenes with characters of “positive” shade depicting alcohol use, and the scenes portraying heroine with alcohol use.Conclusion:There is an increasing trend toward alcohol depiction by positive characters for fun and relaxation, and toward depiction of low-concentration alcohol such as beer in recent decades. The impact of changing trend of alcohol depiction on the Indian viewers, especially young audience, needs further study.

Booze and butts: A content analysis of the presence of alcohol in tobacco industry lifestyle magazines

BackgroundAdvertising influences people's health behaviors. Tobacco companies have linked tobacco and alcohol in their marketing activities. We examined how depictions of alcohol were placed in lifestyle magazines produced by tobacco companies, and if these references differed depending on the magazine’s orientation, if it was towards men, women, or if it was unisex. MethodsContent analysis of 6 different tobacco industry lifestyle magazines (73 issues), including 73 magazine covers, 1558 articles, 444 tobacco ads, and 695 non-tobacco ads. Results14 of 73 (19%) magazine covers featured alcohol; 581 of 1558 (37%) magazine articles mentioned alcohol; 119 of 444 (27%) tobacco ads showed alcohol images; and 57 of 695 (8%) non-tobacco ads portrayed alcohol. Male-oriented magazines (Unlimited, CML, and Real Edge) contained the most alcohol references, and the references were mainly beer, mixed drinks, and liquor or spirits. Female-oriented magazines (All Woman and Flair) contained the fewest alcohol references, and wine and mixed drinks were the major types of alcoholic beverage portrayed. For the unisex magazine (P.S.), the frequency of alcohol references fell between the male- and female-oriented magazines, and the magazine most frequently mentioned mixed drinks. ConclusionsFrequent depictions of smoking and drinking in tobacco industry lifestyle magazines might have reinforced norms about paired use of tobacco and alcohol among young adults. The pairing of tobacco and alcohol may particularly target young men. Anti-tobacco interventions need to address the co-use of tobacco and alcohol, change the social acceptability of smoking in social settings, and tailor anti-tobacco messaging by gender.

Priming of conflicting motivational orientations in heavy drinkers: robust effects on self-report but not implicit measures.

We report results from three experimental studies that investigated the independence of approach and avoidance motivational orientations for alcohol, both of which operate within controlled and automatic cognitive processes. In order to prime their approach or avoidance motivational orientations, participants watched brief videos, the content of which (positive or negative depictions of alcohol, or neutral) varied by experimental group. Immediately after watching the videos, participants completed self-report (Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire; all studies) and implicit (visual probe task in study 1, stimulus-response compatibility task in studies 2 and 3) measures of alcohol-related approach and avoidance. In study 3, we incorporated an additional experimental manipulation of thought suppression in an attempt to maximize the influence of the videos on implicit measures. Findings were consistent across all three studies: increases in self-reported approach inclinations were mirrored by decreases in avoidance inclinations, and vice versa. However, a combined analysis of data from all studies demonstrated that changes in approach inclinations were partially independent of changes in avoidance inclinations. There were no effects on implicit alcohol-related processing biases, although methodological issues may partially account for these findings. Our findings demonstrate that subjective approach and avoidance inclinations for alcohol tend to fluctuate in parallel, but changes in approach inclinations may be partially independent from changes in avoidance inclinations. We discuss methodological issues that may partially account for our findings.

Portrayal of alcohol consumption in movies and drinking initiation in low-risk adolescents.

To investigate the hypothesis that exposure to alcohol consumption in movies affects the likelihood that low-risk adolescents will start to drink alcohol. Longitudinal study of 2346 adolescent never drinkers who also reported at baseline intent to not to do so in the next 12 months (mean age 12.9 years, SD = 1.08). Recruitment was carried out in 2009 and 2010 in 112 state-funded schools in Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland. Exposure to movie alcohol consumption was estimated from 250 top-grossing movies in each country in the years 2004 to 2009. Multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regressions assessed the relationship between baseline exposure to movie alcohol consumption and initiation of trying alcohol, and binge drinking (≥ 5 consecutive drinks) at follow-up. Overall, 40% of the sample initiated alcohol use and 6% initiated binge drinking by follow-up. Estimated mean exposure to movie alcohol consumption was 3653 (SD = 2448) occurrences. After age, gender, family affluence, school performance, TV screen time, personality characteristics, and drinking behavior of peers, parents, and siblings were controlled for, exposure to each additional 1000 movie alcohol occurrences was significantly associated with increased relative risk for trying alcohol, incidence rate ratio = 1.05 (95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.08; P = .003), and for binge drinking, incidence rate ratio = 1.13 (95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.20; P < .001). Seeing alcohol depictions in movies is an independent predictor of drinking initiation, particularly for more risky patterns of drinking. This result was shown in a heterogeneous sample of European youths who had a low affinity for drinking alcohol at the time of exposure.

A content analysis of tobacco and alcohol in popular UK films: an update

BackgroundExposure to tobacco and alcohol imagery in films is strongly associated with uptake and consumption of both tobacco and alcohol in young people. In an analysis of popular UK films over the 20 years from 1989 to 2008, we have previously documented substantial tobacco and alcohol content in films marketed to children and young people. In view of increasing awareness of the potential harm of this exposure, this study was undertaken to assess whether these exposures continue to be prevalent in more recent films, by analysing the most popular films in the years 2009–11. MethodsOccurrence of tobacco (tobacco use, implied use, tobacco paraphernalia, and tobacco brand appearances) and alcohol (alcohol use, inferred alcohol use, other alcohol reference, and alcohol brand appearances) imagery was measured by 5-min interval coding in the 15 most commercially successful films in the UK in each year from 2009 to 2011. Each 5-min period of film was coded as positive for each category of tobacco or alcohol imagery, or both, if at least one such incident occurred during the 5-min period. FindingsAll of the 45 most popular films for 2009–11 were rated by UK film classifiers as suitable for youth audiences (those aged younger than 18 years). Any tobacco was present in a third of all films (15 of 45), whereas any alcohol was present in more than four-fifths (37 of 45 [82%]). Tobacco use occurred in 11 films, and alcohol use occurred in 26. Tobacco branding was infrequent, but two brands, Marlboro and K & J, were clearly identifiable. Alcohol branding was far more frequent, occurring in 22% (ten of 45) of films, with the most frequently occurring brands being Jagermeister, Singha, and Budweiser. When combined with earlier findings using the same methods in films from 1989 to 2008, tobacco was present in 65% (225 of 345) of films, and alcohol in 86% (295 of 345) of films. Tobacco content in each of the coded categories decreased between 1989 and 2010, but increased again in 2011, largely as a result of two films: The King's Speech and Sherlock Homes: a Game of Shadows. Alcohol content fluctuated over the 23 years, without any significant decline overall (p>0·05). Overall, the most commonly represented tobacco brands were Marlboro, Silk Cut, and Embassy, and the most common alcohol brands were Budweiser, Miller, and Coors. InterpretationAlthough conventional tobacco promotion is heavily restricted in the UK, tobacco imagery continues to be evident in films classified for and popular with youth audiences. The amount of tobacco content in films has decreased over the years but increased again in 2011. Alcohol advertising and promotion remains largely self-regulated in the UK, and there has been no appreciable reduction in any alcohol depictions in youth classified films. UK film regulators are aware of the effects of film content on youth audiences, but in practice do not seem to consider either tobacco or alcohol imagery in the age classification process of films suitable for young people. FundingThis research was done as part of the research undertaken by AL as part of a research fellowship funded by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, which is a UKCRC Centre of Public Health Research Excellence. Funding was from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, and the Department of Health.

Depictions of alcohol use in a UK Government partnered online social marketing campaign: Hollyoaks ‘The Morning after the night before’

Aims: This study analysed the depiction of alcohol in an online government partnered social marketing campaign: Hollyoaks ‘The Morning After the Night Before’. This was a new initiative, providing Internet-delivered episodes of a popular terrestrial drama targeted at young people.Methods: All the 12 episodes were coded for visual representations of alcohol, drinking acts and alcohol effect references. The drinking setting, point in time, type of alcoholic beverage consumed, drinker's demographics, effects/consequences of drinking, and official and unofficial responses to alcohol consumption and related harms were also coded. Audience comments were then categorized according to their content in order to gain an insight into viewers’ thoughts regarding the campaign.Findings: A wide variety of data is reported. Most representations of alcohol were positively framed, and were depicted without immediate consequence. No explicit sensible drinking messages were included in the episodes. Analysis of viewer feedback indicated a lack of awareness of the intentions of the campaign and little discussion of alcohol-related issues was generated. In contrast, viewers seemed to reject the depictions of alcohol portrayed, and identified with, or admired, the central characters. Further analysis indicated little coherence between alcohol framing in the online campaign and representations in the terrestrial TV series.Conclusions: This article uses the example of KYL/Hollyoaks to draw attention to the emergent use of the internet and other new media in health promotion. New media provides creative new opportunities to engage young people with health-promoting messages. However, although new ways of delivery are important they should be part of a co-ordinated and internally consistent campaign, present realistic depictions of alcohol use, and be based upon clear evidence-based principles.

Is trivialisation of alcohol consumption a laughing matter? Alcohol incidence in a metropolitan daily newspaper's comic strips

A number of studies have looked at the incidence and nature of depictions of alcohol in various media, primarily in movies, television and magazines. However, there have been few studies of depictions of alcohol in comic strips in newspapers. This study analysed the content of the five comic strips in the 258 weekday editions of a metropolitan newspaper over a period of 1 year. Where alcohol was depicted, this was classified as either integral or incidental to the theme or story of that day's strip. As an indication of the nature of the depiction and in the absence of specific codes for the depiction of alcohol in comic strips, depictions were assessed against the Australian Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC). Of the 1 290 individual comic strips, 4% (n = 54) depicted alcohol. Depictions were equal in number incidental and integral to the 'story'. Over half of the strips depicting alcohol were deemed to breach the ABAC, with the most common breach related to trivialisation of alcohol consumption. One strip accounted for over 60% of all depictions with the majority breaching the ABAC. These results suggest that newspaper publishers should consider a code for depictions of alcohol (and other unhealthy or risky products/behaviours) in comics. At the very least, comics that trivialise the abuse of alcohol should be excluded under such a code.

Longitudinal Study of Exposure to Entertainment Media and Alcohol Use Among German Adolescents

Entertainment media exposure may predict teenager alcohol use, but few longitudinal studies have been reported. A longitudinal study was conducted of 2708 German adolescents aged 10 to 16 years who had never drunk alcohol. Each adolescent was surveyed at school about daily television use, whether they had a television in their bedroom, and their exposure to movie alcohol depictions. Adolescents were resurveyed 12 to 13 months later (retention rate: 85%) to determine onset of drinking alcohol without parental knowledge and binge drinking (>/=5 consecutive drinks). Overall, 885 (33%) students initiated alcohol use without parental knowledge (17% in quartile 1 movie alcohol exposure), and 387 (14%) initiated binge drinking during follow-up. After controlling for baseline covariates, exposure to movie alcohol use significantly increased percent initiating alcohol use (to 24% in exposure quartile 2, 33% in quartile 3 and 34% in quartile 4) and percent initiating binge drinking (to 8.6% in exposure quartile 2, 12% in quartile 3 and 13% in quartile 4). Having a television in the bedroom also predicted both outcomes, but daily television use did not. Movie exposure and having a television in the bedroom are both independent predictors of onset of problematic alcohol use among German teenagers. Media restrictions could play a role in prevention.

Alcohol Messages in Prime‐Time Television Series

Alcohol messages contained in television programming serve as sources of information about drinking. To better understand the ways embedded messages about alcohol are communicated, it is crucial to objectively monitor and analyze television alcohol depictions. This article presents a content analysis of an eight-week sample of eighteen prime-time programs. Alcohol messages were coded based on modalities of presentation, level of plot connection, and valence. The analysis reveals that mixed messages about alcohol often coexist but the ways in which they are presented differ: whereas negative messages are tied to the plot and communicated verbally, positive messages are associated with subtle visual portrayals.