Joan S. Tucker|Jeremy N. V. Miles|Elizabeth J. D’Amico
Cross-Lagged Associations Between Substance Use-Related Media Exposure and Alcohol Use During Middle School
RAND Corporation|RAND Corporation|RAND Corporation
purpose study examines reciprocal longitudinal associations alcohol drug aodrelated media exposure alcohol use among middle school students explores whether associations differ ethnicity gender methods analytic sample 7th grade students recruited 16 california middle schools surveyed spring semester two academic years students reported background characteristics exposure seven types aodrelated media content internet videos social networking sites movies television magazine advertisements songs video games past 3 months alcohol use past 30 days structural equation modeling used examine crosslagged associations media exposure alcohol use results greater aodrelated media exposure 7th grade significantly associated higher probability alcohol use 8th grade p 02 alcohol use 7th grade marginally associated greater aodrelated media exposure 8th grade p 07 crosslagged associations statistically differ ethnicity hispanic vs nonhispanic white gender evidence certain types media exposure strongly associated alcohol use others conclusions results study suggest aodrelated media effects media selectively form reciprocal mutually influencing process may escalate adolescent alcohol use time addressing adolescents exposure aodrelated media content effects behavior media literacy education may hold promise improving efficacy alcohol prevention efforts middle school students