Exposure to smoking & alcohol cues in mass media (advertising and movies) has been indicated as an influence on adolescent substance use, but there is a need for research to identify factors that moderate the impact of media exposure on adolescents. The proposed research focuses on adolescents as the subject group and self-control characteristics as a moderator. Research will be conducted by a multidisciplinary group of investigators to study moderation effects in both field and laboratory settings so as to obtain detailed knowledge about the mechanisms of moderation for media exposures. Studies include a longitudinal field study with a multiethnic cohort of middle-school students and laboratory studies further examining how self-control affects experience of and responses to media information. Two laboratory studies will be conducted at U-M.
In one, we will use a Perception Analyzer System to determine how self-control relates to viewers? Reactions to film scenes that include substance use cues. In the other, we will test whether the accessibility of expectancies about substances differs as a function of self-control. The overall aim of the project is to combine the advantages of epidemiologic methods and laboratory methods to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms of media influence on adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Results are expected to have implications for both basic and applied research with regard to media literacy programs and social skills training programs.