262412 Exposure to alcohol imagery in the movies and experimenting with alcohol among Mexican origin youth

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Galya Bigman , School of Public health- Austin regional campus, The university of Texas, Austin, TX
Anna V. Wilkinson, PhD , Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, Austin, TX
Background: Exposure to alcohol images in movies is associated with ever consuming alcohol among youth. Less is known about whether this exposure is associated with increasing levels of alcohol consumption and whether the association holds among minority youth. Methods: In 2008-09, 1,154 Mexican origin adolescents (aged 13-16 years) indicated which of 50 movies (randomly selected from a pool of 250 popular movies released from 2003-07 and content analyzed for alcohol) they had seen and provided data on alcohol-related risk factors (e.g. family environment, outcome expectations). At follow-up in 2010-11, 1,002 participants (87%) reported their alcohol experience. Results: In 2008-09 30% reported having had at least one drink of alcohol. By 2010-11, 44.5% reported ever drinking, 18.8% had at least one drink in the past 30 days, and 9.6% had at least 5 drinks in a row in the past 30 days. We found that ever drinkers reported higher exposure to images of alcohol consumption in all movies mean=11256 (SD=5345) vs. mean=9078 (SD=5314) compared to non-drinkers (p<0.0001) and PG-13 movies mean=7182 (SD=3859) vs. mean=5595 (SD=3855) (p<0.0001). In multivariate analyses, after adjusting for the family environment, outcome expectations, subjective social status and sensation seeking tendencies, we found that as exposure to alcohol consumption imagery in the movies increased, the chances of having ever tired alcohol increased. Conclusions: Our results suggest that exposure to alcohol consumption in the movies exerts an independent influence on alcohol consumption among youth. This risk factor, (in particular PG-13 movies) should be highlighted in alcohol-related health promotion programs.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. To identify exposure to alcohol consumption in the movies as a potential risk factor for alcohol initiation and increasing alcohol consumption among Mexican origin youth. 2. To discuss the implications of these findings for in the context of preventing increasing alcohol consumption among Mexican origin youth.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Ethnic Minorities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Ph.D. student in epidemiology at the University of Texas School of public health, at the Austin regional campus, working as graduate research assistance, on the Mexican origin youth cohort, under the supervisor Dr. Wilkinson. Currently we are studying the impact factors on youth behavior on outcome related diseases such as smoking and alcohol consumption. In addition we are studying other health related behaviors such as physical and sedentary activities related to adolescence.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

Back to: 4255.0: Race, Ethnicity and Special Populations: Epidemiology and Interventions