Ross E. O’Hara|Frederick X. Gibbons|Zhigang Li|Meg Gerrard|James D. Sargent
Specificity of early movie effects on adolescent sexual behavior and alcohol use
Dartmouth College|Dartmouth College|Dartmouth College|Dartmouth College|Dartmouth College
adolescents movie sex exposure mse movie alcohol exposure mae shown influence later sexual behavior drinking respectively study date however tested whether effects generalize across behaviors study examined concurrent influences early ie age 16 mse mae subsequent risky sex alcohol use among national sample 1228 us adolescents participants reported health behaviors movie viewing six times 2003 2009 telephone interviews beach method used create populationbased estimate participants mse mae entered structural equation model sem predict lifetime risky sex past month alcohol use ages 1821 men women mae predicted alcohol use mediated age initiation heavy episodic drinking hed age sexual debut mae also predicted risky sex via age sexual debut among men mse indirectly predicted risky sex alcohol use findings indicated early exposure risk content movies specific general effects later risktaking gender differences evident men mse stronger predictor mae women mae predicted later risk behavior results implications future media research prevention programs adolescent sex alcohol use movie ratings guide parents decisions movies appropriate children