Abstract
Youth are heavy consumers of media, and exposure to mature media content is associated with initiation and progression of substance use. Parental restriction of such content has been shown to be an effective mechanism to reduce negative consequences attributed to exposure to mature media content. This study assessed the influence of parental restriction of movie watching across Motion Picture Association of America rating categories on subsequent alcohol and marijuana initiation at 1- and 2-year follow-up. Using data from a longitudinal study of adolescent substance use (N = 1023), we used logistic regression analyses to determine the odds of alcohol and marijuana initiation across movie rating categories, within R-rated restriction categories in particular, and based on changes in parental restriction of movies over time. All analyses controlled for important parental, personality, and behavioral correlates of adolescent substance use. Results suggest that restriction of R-rated movies is protective of both alcohol and marijuana initiation. Important differences among parental restriction of R-rated movie categories emerged such that being allowed to watch them with adult supervision was protective of substance use, while those who reported watching R-rated films despite parental restrictions were at heightened risk for alcohol initiation. Changes in parental movie restrictions were not predictive of substance use initiation over the subsequent year. Implications of these findings for media literacy program prevention strategies are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The current study did not investigate initiation of tobacco use. While it would have been useful to contrast findings of marijuana initiation with smoking initiation, preliminary data analysis revealed that very little smoking initiation occurred in the current sample (3.60% between W1 and W2, 6.01% between W1 and W3). Therefore, we concluded that rates were too low to reliably test whether parental restrictions influenced tobacco initiation.
For Cohort 2 only, measurement of the second wave of parental restriction data occurred at W3, rather than W2. Thus, Cohort 2 is excluded from analyses in which the second wave of parental restriction data is used, which are only results presented in Table 6 assessing the influence of changes in parental restrictions on subsequent substance use.
References
Andrews, J. A., Hampson, S., & Peterson, M. (2011). Early adolescent cognitions as predictors of heavy alcohol use in high school. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 448–455.
Arthur, M. W., Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Pollard, J. A. (2000). Student survey of risk and protective factors and prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use. Seattle: University of Washington, Social Development Research Group.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Behrendt, S., Wittchen, H., Höfler, M., Lieb, R., & Beesdo, K. (2009). Transitions from first substance use to substance use disorders in adolescence: Is early onset associated with a rapid escalation? Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 99, 68–78.
Bergamini, E., Demidenko, E., & Sargent, J. D. (2013). Trends in tobacco and alcohol brand placements in popular US movies, 1996 through 2009. JAMA Pediatrics, 167, 634–639.
Chen, C., Storr, C. L., & Anthony, J. C. (2009). Early-onset drug use and risk for drug dependence problems. Addictive Behaviors, 34, 319–322.
Clark, L. S. (2011). Parental mediation theory for the digital age. Communication Theory, 21, 323–343.
Crawford, A. M., Pentz, M. A., Chou, C., Li, C., & Dwyer, J. H. (2003). Parallel developmental trajectories of sensation seeking and regular substance use in adolescents. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 17, 179–192.
Cyders, M. A., Smith, G. T., Spillane, N. S., Fischer, S., Annus, A. M., & Peterson, C. (2007). Integration of impulsivity and positive mood to predict risky behavior: Development and validation of a measure of positive urgency. Psychological Assessment, 19, 107–118.
Dal Cin, S., Worth, K. A., Dalton, M. A., & Sargent, J. D. (2008). Youth exposure to alcohol use and brand appearances in popular contemporary movies. Addiction, 103, 1925–1932.
Dal Cin, S., Worth, K. A., Gerrard, M., Gibbons, F. X., Stoolmiller, M., Wills, T. A., & Sargent, J. D. (2009). Watching and drinking: Expectancies, prototypes, and friends’ alcohol use mediate the effect of exposure to alcohol use in movies on adolescent drinking. Health Psychology, 28, 473–483.
Dalton, M. A., Ahrens, M. B., Sargent, J. D., Mott, L. A., Beach, M. L., Tickle, J. J., & Heatherton, T. F. (2002). Relation between parental restrictions on movies and adolescent use of tobacco and alcohol. Effective Clinical Practice: ECP, 5, 1–10.
Dalton, M. A., Adachi-Mejia, A. M., Longacre, M. R., Titus-Ernstoff, L. T., Gibson, J. J., Martin, S. K., ... Beach, M. L. (2006). Parental rules and monitoring of children’s movie viewing associated with children’s risk for smoking and drinking. Pediatrics, 118, 1932–1942.
DuRant, R. H., Smith, J. A., Kreiter, S. R., & Krowchuk, D. P. (1999). The relationship between early age of onset of initial substance use and engaging in multiple health risk behaviors among young adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 153, 286–291.
Erskine, H., Moffitt, T., Copeland, W., Costello, E., Ferrari, A., Patton, G., ... Scott, J. (2015). A heavy burden on young minds: The global burden of mental and substance use disorders in children and youth. Psychological Medicine, 45, 1551–1563.
Farrell, A. D., Danish, S. J., & Howard, C. W. (1992). Relationship between drug use and other problem behaviors in urban adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 705–712.
Fergusson, D. M., & Boden, J. M. (2008). Cannabis use and later life outcomes. Addiction, 103, 969–976.
Gentile, D. A., & Walsh, D. A. (2002). A normative study of family media habits. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 157–178.
Gentile, D. A., Reimer, R. A., Nathanson, A. I., Walsh, D. A., & Eisenmann, J. C. (2014). Protective effects of parental monitoring of children’s media use: A prospective study. JAMA Pediatrics, 168, 479–484.
Gerrard, M., Gibbons, F. X., Houlihan, A. E., Stock, M. L., & Pomery, E. A. (2008). A dual-process approach to health risk decision making: The prototype willingness model. Developmental Review, 28, 29–61.
Gore, F. M., Bloem, P. J., Patton, G. C., Ferguson, J., Joseph, V., Coffey, C., ... Mathers, C. D. (2011). Global burden of disease in young people aged 10–24 years: A systematic analysis. The Lancet, 377, 2093–2102.
Hanewinkel, R., Morgenstern, M., Tanski, S. E., & Sargent, J. D. (2008). Longitudinal study of parental movie restriction on teen smoking and drinking in Germany. Addiction, 103, 1722–1730.
Jackson, K. M., Colby, S. M., Barnett, N. P., & Abar, C. C. (2015). Prevalence and correlates of sipping alcohol in a prospective middle school sample. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29, 766–778.
Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2009). Confronting the challenge of participatory culture: media education for the 21 st century. Retrieved from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED536086.pdf
Jordan, A. B., Hersey, J. C., Mcdivitt, J. A., & Heitzler, C. D. (2006). Reducing children’s television-viewing time: A qualitative study of parents and their children. Pediatrics, 118, e1303–e1310.
Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2000). What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment: Further support for a reinterpretation of monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 36, 366–380.
Koordeman, R., Anschutz, D. J., & Engels, R. C. (2012). Alcohol portrayals in movies, music videos and soap operas and alcohol use of young people: Current status and future challenges. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47, 612–623.
Lee, S., Bartolic, S., & Vandewater, E. A. (2009). Predicting children’s media use in the USA: Differences in cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27, 123–143.
Lynam, D. R., Smith, G. T., Whiteside, S. P., & Cyders, M. A. (2006). The UPPS-P: Assessing five personality pathways to impulsive behavior. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University.
McClure, A. C., Stoolmiller, M., Tanski, S. E., Engels, R. C., & Sargent, J. D. (2013). Alcohol marketing receptivity, marketing-specific cognitions, and underage binge drinking. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37, E404–E413.
Mejia, R., Pérez, A., Peña, L., Morello, P., Kollath-Cattano, C., Braun, S.,... Sargent, J. D. (2016). Parental restriction of mature-rated media and its association with substance use among Argentinean adolescents. Academic Pediatrics, 16, 282–289.
Mendoza, K. (2009). Surveying parental mediation: Connections, challenges, and questions for media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 1, 28–41.
Morgenstern, M., Isensee, B., Sargent, J. D., & Hanewinkel, R. (2011a). Exposure to alcohol advertising and teen drinking. Preventive Medicine, 52, 146–151.
Morgenstern, M., Isensee, B., Sargent, J. D., & Hanewinkel, R. (2011b). Attitudes as mediators of the longitudinal association between alcohol advertising and youth drinking. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 165, 610–616.
Muthén, B., & Muthén, L. (2012). Mplus User’s Guide (Seventh Edition). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
Primack, B. A., Gold, M. A., Land, S. R., & Fine, M. J. (2006). Association of cigarette smoking and media literacy about smoking among adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 465–472.
Primack, B. A., Kraemer, K. L., Fine, M. J., & Dalton, M. A. (2009). Media exposure and marijuana and alcohol use among adolescents. Substance Use & Misuse, 44, 722–739.
Primack, B. A., McClure, A., Li, Z., & Sargent, J. D. (2014). Receptivity to and recall of alcohol brand appearances in U.S. popular music and alcohol-related behaviors. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 38, 1737–1744.
Rideout, V. (2016). Measuring time spent with media: The common sense census of media use by US 8-to 18-year-olds. Journal of Children and Media, 10, 138–144.
Roberts, S. P., Siegel, M. B., Dejong, W., Ross, C. S., Naimi, T., Albers, A., ... Jernigan, D. H. (2016). Brands matter: Major findings from the alcohol brand research among underage drinkers (ABRAND) project. Addiction Research & Theory, 24, 32–39.
Sargent, J. D., Dalton, M. A., Heatherton, T., & Beach, M. (2003). Modifying exposure to smoking depicted in movies: A novel approach to preventing adolescent smoking. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 157, 643–648.
Sargent, J. D., Beach, M. L., Dalton, M. A., Ernstoff, L. T., Gibson, J. J., Tickle, J. J., & Heatherton, T. F. (2004). Effect of parental R-rated movie restriction on adolescent smoking initiation: A prospective study. Pediatrics, 114, 149–156.
Sargent, J. D., Wills, T. A., Stoolmiller, M., Gibson, J., & Gibbons, F. X. (2006). Alcohol use in motion pictures and its relation with early-onset teen drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67, 54–65.
Sargent, J. D., Tanski, S. E., & Gibson, J. (2007). Exposure to movie smoking among US adolescents aged 10 to 14 years: A population estimate. Pediatrics, 119, e1167–e1176.
Siegel, M., Ross, C. S., Albers, A. B., Dejong, W., King, C., Naimi, T. S., & Jernigan, D. H. (2016). The relationship between exposure to brand-specific alcohol advertising and brand-specific consumption among underage drinkers—United States, 2011–2012. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 42, 4–14.
Stern, S. R. (2005). Messages from teens on the big screen: Smoking, drinking, and drug use in teen-centered films. Journal of Health Communication, 10, 331–346.
Stern, S., & Morr, L. (2013). Portrayals of teen smoking, drinking, and drug use in recent popular movies. Journal of Health Communication, 18, 179–191.
Stice, E., Barrera Jr., M., & Chassin, L. (1993). Relation of parental support and control to adolescents’ externalizing symptomatology and substance use: A longitudinal examination of curvilinear effects. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 609–629.
Tanski, S. E., Dal Cin, S., Stoolmiller, M., & Sargent, J. D. (2010). Parental R-rated movie restriction and early-onset alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71, 452–459.
Tickle, J. J., Beach, M. L., & Dalton, M. A. (2009). Tobacco, alcohol, and other risk behaviors in film: How well do MPAA ratings distinguish content? Journal of Health Communication, 14, 756–767.
US Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). Preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults: A report of the surgeon general. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health.
van den Bulck, J., & Beullens, K. (2005). Television and music video exposure and adolescent alcohol use while going out. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 40, 249–253.
van der Vorst, H., Engels, R., Meeus, W., Deković, M., & Vermulst, A. (2006). Parental attachment, parental control, and early development of alcohol use: A longitudinal study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 20, 107–116.
Warren, R. (2001). In words and deeds: Parental involvement and mediation of children’s television viewing. The Journal of Family Communication, 1, 211–231.
Wills, T. A., Sargent, J. D., Stoolmiller, M., Gibbons, F. X., & Gerrard, M. (2008). Movie smoking exposure and smoking onset: A longitudinal study of mediation processes in a representative sample of US adolescents. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22, 269–277.
Wills, T. A., Sargent, J. D., Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., & Stoolmiller, M. (2009). Movie exposure to alcohol cues and adolescent alcohol problems: A longitudinal analysis in a national sample. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23, 23–35.
Funding
This research was supported by R01 AA016838, K02 AA021761, and T32 AA007459 from NIAAA. NIH had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standard.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cox, M.J., Gabrielli, J., Janssen, T. et al. Parental Restriction of Movie Viewing Prospectively Predicts Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Initiation: Implications for Media Literacy Programs. Prev Sci 19, 914–926 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0891-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0891-8