Behavioral Effects of Teen Exposure to Multiple Risk Behaviors in Media

描述（由申请人提供）：不健康的风险行为的开始，如过早的性活动，饮酒，以及潜在的暴力行为，如欺凌和肢体冲突，是青春期的标志。通常情况下，这些行为与另一种行为结合发生，增加了不良社会和健康后果的可能性。研究表明，接触以预防特定风险行为为特征的媒体内容是对青少年该行为表现的关键影响。然而，研究未能解释大众媒体中多个风险人物形象的影响，以及它如何影响风险行为模式。本研究采用风险行为暴露的创新概念，研究流行电影和电视节目中的多重风险描述与青少年多重风险行为之间的纵向关联。我们将对票房收入最高的主流和面向非洲裔美国人的电影和电视节目进行内容分析，以了解单一和多种风险行为，并将内容分析的结果与从全国代表性的14-17岁青少年样本中收集的3波媒体曝光和行为数据联系起来。因为有些青少年比其他人更容易受到媒体的影响，我们将考虑背景因素（种族）和人格特征（感觉寻求和冲动）作为调节剂的安全性行为的关系。随着非裔美国人的媒体标题纳入我们的内容分析，我们离开了更传统的方法，仅仅依靠主流媒体，尽管非裔美国人为导向的媒体在非裔美国人的年轻人的流行。这些发现将促进我们对媒体如何促进青少年参与危险行为组合的理解，并对风险和疾病预防工作产生影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The initiation of unhealthy risk behaviors such as premature sexual activity, alcohol use, and potentially violent acts like bullying and physical fights is a hallmark of adolescence. It is often the case that these behaviors occur in combination with another, increasing the potential for adverse social and health outcomes. Research has shown that exposure to media content that features depictions of a specific risk behavior is a key influence on adolescents' performance of that behavior. However, studies have failed to account for the effect of multiple risk character portrayals in popular media, and how it may affect risk behavior patterns. This project uses an innovative conceptualization of exposure to risk behavior to study the longitudinal association between multiple risk portrayals in popular movies and television shows and multiple risk behavior in youth. We will content analyze top-grossing mainstream and African American oriented films and television shows for depictions of single and multiple risk behaviors, and will link the results of the content analysisto media exposure and behavior data collected over 3 waves from a nationally representative sample of 14-17 year old teens. Because some adolescents are more susceptible to media effects than others, we will consider background factors (race) and personality characteristics (sensation seeking and impulsivity) as moderators of the exposure-behavior relationship. With the inclusion of African American media titles in our content analyses, we depart from more conventional approaches that rely solely on mainstream media despite the popularity of African American oriented media among African American youth. The findings will advance our understanding of how media contribute to youth engagement in dangerous combinations of risk behaviors and have implications for risk and disease prevention efforts.