Behavioral Effects of Teen Exposure to Multiple Risk Behaviors in Media

描述(由申请人提供)：引发不健康的危险行为，如过早的性行为，酗酒，以及可能的暴力行为，如欺凌和肢体打斗，是青春期的一个标志。通常情况下，这些行为与另一种行为同时发生，增加了产生不良社会和健康后果的可能性。研究表明，接触以描述特定危险行为为特色的媒体内容是对青少年表现出该行为的关键影响。然而，研究未能解释流行媒体中多重风险角色描绘的影响，以及它可能如何影响风险行为模式。本项目采用风险行为暴露的创新概念来研究流行影视节目中的多种风险形象与青少年的多种风险行为之间的纵向联系。我们将对票房最高的主流和非裔美国人导向的电影和电视节目进行内容分析，以描述单一和多重危险行为，并将内容分析的结果与从全国具有代表性的14-17岁青少年样本收集的3波媒体曝光和行为数据联系起来。由于一些青少年比其他青少年更容易受到媒体影响，我们将考虑背景因素(种族)和个性特征(感觉寻求和冲动)作为暴露-行为关系的调节因素。随着非裔美国人媒体标题被纳入我们的内容分析，我们背离了更传统的方法，即完全依赖主流媒体，尽管非洲裔美国人导向的媒体在非裔美国年轻人中很受欢迎。这些发现将增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.