Teens who watch movies in which the characters are drinking alcohol may be more likely to drink in excess, a European study showed.
Across six European countries with different cultural experiences with alcohol, exposure to drinking in movies was associated with binge drinking in adolescents (P<0.001), according to Reiner Hanewinkel, PhD, of the Institute for Therapy and Health Research in Kiel, Germany, and colleagues.
The finding remained significant after adjustment for several factors that could potentially affect the relationship, the researchers reported online ahead of the April issue of Pediatrics.
“Although these cross-sectional findings need to be confirmed through studies with a longitudinal design, our findings raise concern about the role popular movies may play in Europe and beyond in the early experimentation with patterns of alcohol consumption in adolescents,” the authors wrote.
“These patterns have the potential to have a detrimental influence on individual health and future drinking trajectories and to be costly at a societal level.”
Hanewinkel and colleagues performed a survey of 16,551 students, ages 10 to 19 (mean 13.4 years), from 114 public schools in Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland. The countries had variations in their alcohol control policies, as shown by differences in the physical availability of alcohol, drinking context, alcohol prices, advertising, and the operation of motor vehicles.
According to a 2007 survey, the prevalence of alcohol use among young people varies widely in those countries, ranging from 22% in Iceland to 54% in the U.K.
Teenage boys who infrequently use marijuana but occasionally binge on the drug may face a greater risk of stroke than their peers, according to a study in Pediatrics by a Saint Louis University associate professor of neurology.
Thomas Geller, M.D., who also is a pediatric neurologist at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children Hospital, said the risk of stroke, while increased, remains extremely small. He examined the cases of three teenage boys who used occasionally marijuana and suffered strokes after consuming large doses.
“The novice (marijuana user) may be at greater risk of stroke, especially if they use a lot at one time. It’s another reason not to start using marijuana,” Dr. Geller says.
Strokes in children and teens are extremely rare, occurring in about six cases per 100,000 young people a year. When Saint Louis University doctors saw three cases of strokes in male adolescents during a five year period, they became suspicious, Dr. Geller says. All three teens had strokes in the cerebellar hemispheres of the brain. Two of the adolescents died.
The researchers estimated exposure to alcohol use in movies by coding the number of alcohol occurrences in the 250 top-grossing movies for each country from 2004 to 2009.
The students were asked whether they had seen any of 50 randomly selected movies from their country’s list, and also whether they had ever participated in binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks on one occasion).
Overall, 27% of the students reported binge drinking during their lifetime. After adjusting for age, that rate ranged from 7% in Iceland to 40% in Scotland.
The lowest exposure to alcohol in movies occurred in the Netherlands and Germany and the highest occurred in Italy and Iceland.
After adjustment for age, gender, family affluence, school performance, television screen time, sensation seeking, and rebelliousness, as well as the frequency of drinking among peers, parents, and siblings, there was a significant association between exposure to alcohol in movies and binge drinking (β-coefficient 0.12, P<0.001). The relationship was significant in five of the six countries included in the study -- excluding Iceland -- indicating that it is relatively unaffected by differences in culture and alcohol control policies between the countries. "The results suggest that if steps were taken to decrease exposure of adolescents to movie depictions of alcohol, then fewer young people would take up binge drinking," the authors wrote. They acknowledged that a cross-sectional survey cannot establish a causal relationship, but said the relatively consistent finding between countries supports a causal association between exposure to alcohol in movies and binge drinking. Other limitations included the assessment of movie alcohol exposure based on student recall and possible bias introduced by students who did not complete the survey because of school absence or lack of consent. The study was supported by the European Commission, the Ministry of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany. The coding of the U.S. movies was supported by the NIH. The Scottish fieldwork was supported by additional funds from the U.K. Medical Research Council. The study also received funding from the NIH.
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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Primary source: Pediatrics
Source reference: Hanewinkel R, et al “Alcohol consumption in movies and adolescent binge drinking in six European countries” Pediatrics 2012; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-2809.