Exposure to alcohol advertising leads to earlier onset of alcohol use among youth

Drinking at a younger age is associated with a host of problems later, including greater likelihood of adult addictions (Chassin & DeLucia, 1996). The effect of alcohol advertising on youth alcohol consumption remains controversial, and is the subject of debates at a number of federal agencies and the National Association of Attorneys General. Strong data link advertising exposure and the amount of advertising within markets to drinking amounts (Snyder, et al., 2006). To date, only one study has examined the influence of alcohol advertising on drinking onset, finding that self-reported exposure to beer advertisements in some media was related to subsequent drinking onset, but that it was not related for other media (Ellickson et al., 2005). However, that study, conducted in South Dakota, may not be generalizable to other parts of the U.S., and only examined drinking onset between seventh and ninth grade. The present study uses national survey telephone data collected over two years from (N = 2069) youth age 14 to 19 at baseline. Using event history analysis, we found that, for those who were non-drinkers at baseline, self-reported exposure to alcohol advertising (through television, radio, magazines, and billboards) contributed to the onset of drinking. At the same time, retrospective analysis of the self-reported age of drinking onset at baseline was predicted by current ownership of alcohol merchandise, such as t-shirts and baseball caps with product logos. Thus, the data provide a stronger evidence of the link between exposure to alcohol advertising and earlier onset of alcohol use.