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Abstract #146472

Jennifer A. Manganello, PhD, MPH, Department of Health Policy, Management, & Behavior, University at Albany School of Public Health, One University Place, #165, Rensselaer, NY 12144, 518-402-0304, mango4793@yahoo.com and Amit G. Chauhan, Department of Epidemiology, University at Albany School of Public Health, One University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144.

Purpose: Unintentional injury is one of the leading causes of death for youth age 1 to 19 in the United States, and adolescents are known to be heavy users of television. This study assessed injury behavior in television programs popular with adolescents to see what messages were provided.

Methods: The sample included three randomly selected episodes from the top 15 television programs watched by adolescents during the 2004-2005 television season. Three coders conducted a content analysis of the programs to look for behaviors related to unintentional injury, such as wearing a seat belt while driving, wearing a helmet on a bike or motorcycle, and driving while talking on a cell phone.

Results: Over half of programs (58%) showed people riding in cars. However, for the 69 incidents of car riding, only 18% of drivers were clearly shown wearing a seat belt. High school and college age drivers were more likely to be shown wearing a seat belt than adult drivers (p=.005), and Whites were more likely to be shown wearing a seat belt than African Americans (p=.016). Coders noted four incidents of bike riding which appeared in 3 episodes (7% of all shows). Three of four bikers were wearing a helmet. Motorcycle riding appeared in 4 shows (9%). Of the five incidents of motorcycle riding, three riders were wearing a helmet (60%). For all incident types, only 3% (6/219) resulted in some sort of injury.

Conclusions: Mixed messages are shown on television programs watched by adolescents regarding injury prevention behavior.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about what injury-related behaviors are commonly shown in adolescent television programs.
• Understand how media can influence adolescent health.
• Consider how media may be used for interventions to prevent unintentional injury.

Keywords: Injury, Media

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.