Original article
Early Adolescent Exposure to Alcohol Advertising and Its Relationship to Underage Drinking

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.01.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To determine whether early adolescents who are exposed to alcohol marketing are subsequently more likely to drink. Recent studies suggest that exposure to alcohol ads has a limited influence on drinking in mid-adolescence. Early adolescents may be more vulnerable to alcohol advertising effects.

Methods

Two in-school surveys of 1786 South Dakota youth measured exposure to television beer advertisements, alcohol ads in magazines, in-store beer displays and beer concessions, radio-listening time, and ownership of beer promotional items during 6th grade, and drinking intentions and behavior at 7th grade. Multivariate regression equations predicted the two drinking outcomes using the advertising exposure variables and controlling for psychosocial factors and prior drinking.

Results

After adjusting for covariates, the joint effect of exposure to advertising from all six sources at grade 6 was strongly predictive of grade 7 drinking and grade 7 intentions to drink. Youth in the 75th percentile of alcohol marketing exposure had a predicted probability of drinking that was 50% greater than that of youth in the 25th percentile.

Conclusions

Although causal effects are uncertain, policy makers should consider limiting a variety of marketing practices that could contribute to drinking in early adolescence.

Section snippets

Sample

Respondents were recruited through South Dakota elementary schools. Middle schools in districts where these schools were located participated in the evaluation of a school-based drug prevention intervention. That study involved 55 schools, 9 in cities with more than 50,000 residents, 11 in cities of 25,000 to 50,000, and the rest in rural areas across the state [25]. We capitalized on alliances with these districts to recruit elementary schools into the present study. Ninety percent of schools

Results

Seventeen percent of youth reported past year beer drinking at grade 7. Sixteen percent “definitely” or “probably” would drink in the next 6 months; 23% “probably would not”; 61% “definitely would not.” Partial associations for these outcomes (controlling grade 6 drinking) are displayed in Table 2. Results without this control were nearly identical, and are not displayed. The advertising exposure variables were all significant, positive predictors of grade 7 beer drinking and drinking

Discussion

Exposure to alcohol advertising during very early adolescence predicts both beer drinking and drinking intentions one year later. The joint effect of advertising exposure from all sources was significant after controlling for potentially confounding variables, including prior drinking. Their combined association with drinking was substantial. Children at extremely high levels of overall advertising exposure were subsequently 50% more likely to drink and 36% more likely to intend to drink as

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA12127). We thank Nielsen Media Research for providing data concerning television alcohol advertising.

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