Alcohol portrayal in Australian prime time television in 1990 and 1997

TELEVISION AND MUSIC VIDEO EXPOSURE AND ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL USE WHILE GOING OUT

AIMS

To examine whether television viewing and music video exposure predict alcohol consumption while going out.

METHODS

Data were collected in two waves (February 2003 and February 2004). Respondents were a random sample of 1648 first and fourth year secondary school children of Flanders, Belgium. Self-reported general TV viewing and music video exposure at time 1 and the quantity of alcohol consumed while going out at time 2 were measured. Controls were gender, age group, smoking behaviour, and alcohol use (at time 1) and pubertal status (at time 2).

RESULTS

Overall television viewing per day and music television viewing at time 1 significantly predicted the amount of alcoholic beverages adolescents consumed while going out at time 2. These results remained significant after controlling for alcohol use at time 1, gender, smoking, and pubertal status.

CONCLUSIONS

TV viewing habits are a significant predictor of alcohol consumption while going out. TV viewing might cause an increase in alcohol consumption or might be an early symptom of developing alcohol habits.

Health related content in prime-time television programming

This study identified, content analyzed, and described the health-related content (HRC) presented in the top-ranked prime-time network programs for the age 2 to 11 year-old category. The results reveal that viewers see one HRC-containing scene approximately every four minutes. Foods and alcoholic beverages are frequently shown and consumed. Smoking, drug abuse, and promiscuous sex are relatively uncommon. In most scenes, the HRC is not directly related to the main point of the scene. The characters involved in HRC-containing scenes tend to be slender white men. In addition, many of the HRC-containing scenes portray negative health behaviors.