Annotated Bibliography

Breed, W., and De Foe, J.R. (1981). "The portrayal of the drinking process on prime-time television." Journal of Communication, 31, pp. 58-67. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Top television situation comedies and dramas from 1976-77 season. Unit of analysis: Programs; "significant alcohol scenes" (scenes in which heavy drinking, evaluations of drinking, consequences, etc. appear). Selected findings: TV characters are more likely to drink alcohol than all other beverages combined. Situation comedies and dramas portray drinking/drinkers differently. Drinkers are generally "good" characters, but when they drink too much, they seldom suffer censure or other consequences. Youth drink very rarely, but sometimes express a longing for alcohol.

Breed, W., and De Foe, J.R. (1984). "Drinking and smoking on television, 1950-1982." Journal of Public Health Policy, 5, pp. 257-270. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol, tobacco. Sample: Television dramas and situation comedies from the 1950’s through 1982. Unit of analysis: Programs, drinking scenes, drinking acts. Selected findings: Tobacco use declined and alcohol use increased over the 3 decades. Very little smoking was portrayed in the 1981-82 season. Alcohol use increased steadily.

Cafiso, J., Goodstadt, M.S., Garlington, W.K., and Sheppard, M.A. (1982). "Television portrayal of alcohol and other beverages." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 43, pp. 1232-1243. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Representative week of television programming and commercials from west coast television affiliates of ABC, CBS, and NBC, summer, 1975. Unit of analysis: "Drinking events" (alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages), programs, time periods. Selected findings: Alcohol appears most frequently in motion pictures/dramas, followed by situation comedies, and daytime serials; overall alcohol consumption rate is low, but slightly more alcoholic beverages than non-alcoholic beverages are consumed during prime time; relief was the most common reason given for drinking.

Cruz, J., and Wallack, L. (1986). "Trends in tobacco use on television." American Journal of Public Health, 76, pp. 698-699. Substances(s) of interest: Tobacco. Sample: Composite 2-week sample of regularly scheduled entertainment prime-time television programs from fall, 1984. Unit of analysis: Smoking acts. Selected findings: One smoking act per hour of programming; more smoking in dramas than situation comedies; two-thirds of smokers were lead characters with 70 percent cast in strong, enduring roles.

De Foe, J.R., and Breed, W. (1988). "Response to the alcoholic by ‘the other’ on prime-time television." Contemporary Drug Problems, 15(2), pp. 205-228. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Systematic samples of eight seasons of top-ranked prime-time television entertainment programs (dramas and situation comedies) between 1976 and 1986. Unit of analysis: Scenes in which "alcoholic" characters elicit responses from one or more other characters. Selected findings: Problem drinkers seldom portrayed (74 scenes in 1,417 episodes); responses of "others" were mixed. Tendency to focus on jokes, various forms of enabling and sequences of "game playing." A few scenes did portray responses that might move an alcoholic individual toward reality.

De Foe, J.R., and Breed, W. (1988). "Youth and alcohol in television stories, with suggestions to the industry for alternative portrayals." Adolescence, 23, pp. 533-550. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Systematic samples of eight seasons of top-ranked prime-time television entertainment programs (dramas and situation comedies) between 1976 and 1986. Unit of analysis: "Significant alcohol scenes" (scenes in which heavy drinking, evaluations of drinking, consequences of drinking, etc. appear). Selected findings: Less than 2 percent of drinking on television was done by underage drinkers; depictions of young persons drinking were associated with portrayals of gangs or criminal activity. Exception is portrayal of a troubled youth, who ultimately learns alcohol does not solve problems. Qualitative analysis of a few individual programs that portrayed underage drinking.

DuRant, R.H., Rome, E.S., Rich, M., Allred, E., Emans, S.J., and Woods, E.R. (1997). "Tobacco and alcohol use behaviors portrayed in music videos: A content analysis." American Journal of Public Health, 87, pp. 1131-1135. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol, tobacco. Sample: 518 music videos recorded from MTV, VH1, CMT, and BET in May and June, 1994. Unit of analysis: Videos; individual occurrences of smoking-related and alcohol-related behavior. Selected findings: Tobacco use was highest on MTV, with alcohol use similar across networks. Tobacco and alcohol use were slightly higher in Rap videos. Lead performers most often use tobacco and alcohol; alcohol use is associated with a high degree of sexuality.

Fedler, F., Phillips, M., Raker, P., Schefsky, D., and Soluri, J. (1994). "Network commercials promote legal drugs: outnumber anti-drugs PSAs 45-to-1." Journal of Drug Education, 24(4), pp. 291-302. Substance(s) of interest: Illegal drugs, alcohol, legal drugs. Sample: One week of television commercials from ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC in September 1990. Unit of analysis: Commercials; public service announcements (PSAs); news stories; documentaries. Selected findings: 6 percent of commercials were for over-the-counter drugs, and there were few commercials for alcoholic beverages (0.6 percent). There were 17 anti-drug PSAs, 2 news stories about the problem of illegal drugs, and 1 news story about alcohol. Commercials promoting legal drugs and alcohol outnumbered networks’ news stories, documentaries, and PSAs about illegal drugs by a ratio of 39:1.

Hazan, A.R., and Glantz, S.A. (1995). "Current trends in tobacco use on prime-time fictional television." American Journal of Public Health, 85, pp. 116-117. Substance(s) of interest: Tobacco. Sample: Three composite weeks of fall 1992 prime-time programming on ABC, CBS, and NBC. Unit of analysis: Tobacco events including anti-smoking messages. Selected findings: 24 percent of programs contain at least one tobacco event; 92 percent were pro-tobacco events, and 8 percent were anti-smoking messages. In terms of character analysis, 55 percent of smokers were "good guys;" high-status characters were more likely than medium- or low-status characters to smoke. Higher rates of smoking occur on television than in real life.

Hazan, A.R., Lipton, H.L., and Glantz, S.A. (1994). "Popular films do not reflect current tobacco use." American Journal of Public Health, 84, pp. 998-999. Substance(s) of interest: Tobacco. Sample: Two randomly selected, feature length films from the top 20 list each year from 1960 to 1990. Unit of analysis: Five-minute intervals of film time. Selected findings: Rate of tobacco use did not change over the 30-year period. Smokers were generally successful, attractive white males; smoking was three times as prevalent in films as in actual population.

Heilbronn, L.M. (1988). "What does alcohol mean? Alcohol’s use as a symbolic code." Contemporary Drug Problems, 15(2), pp. 229-248. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: 77 prime-time continuing episodes from 1984 television season containing "alcohol appearances" (see Wallack, Breed, and Cruz, 1986). Unit of analysis: Program. Selected findings: A qualitative (semiotic) analysis of how alcohol-related behavior is used to signify various "meanings" in television programming. Used to establish types of settings (e.g., different types of alcohol signify different life styles), types of characters (e.g., preference for beer often indicates working class status).

Lowery, S.A. (1980). "Soap and booze in the afternoon: An analysis of the portrayal of alcohol use in daytime serials." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 41, pp. 829-838. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Four consecutive weeks of 14 daytime soap operas and 12 daytime game shows from spring 1977. Unit of analysis: half-hour programs; 1-minute intervals. Selected findings: Alcohol-related events occurred at an average rate of 3 per program in soap operas and .3 per program in game shows. About half the alcohol-related events in soap operas were actual drinking events; drinking occurred most frequently in the home.

Mathios, A., Avery, R., Bisogni, C., and Shanahan, J. (1998). "Alcohol portrayal on prime-time television: Manifest and latent messages." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 59, pp. 305-310. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Two weeks of broadcast television programs from ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC from fall 1994 and spring 1995. Unit of Analysis: Food and beverage episodes within programs; characters. Selected Findings: Alcoholic beverages were the most frequently portrayed food or drink; alcohol appeared with characters of all ages, accounting for a significant percent of food and drink incidents for adolescents. When adolescents are involved in alcohol episodes, they are portrayed with significantly more negative personality characteristics than older characters.

Signorielli, N. (1987). "Drinking, sex, and violence on television: The cultural indicators perspective." Journal of Drug Education, 17(3), pp. 245-260. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: 17 annual week-long samples of prime-time and weekend daytime network dramatic TV programs from 1969 to 1985. Unit of analysis: Program; major characters. Selected findings: References to alcohol and drinking increased steadily from 1969 to 1985. The harmful effects of drinking alcohol were rarely mentioned. Drinking was often associated with sexual behavior. About 37 percent of major characters drink, and they do not differ significantly from major characters who do not drink. Alcoholics were treated quite negatively.

Stockwell, T.F., and Glantz, S.A. (1997). "Tobacco use is increasing in popular films." Tobacco Control, 6, pp. 282-284. Substance(s) of interest: Tobacco. Sample: Five randomly selected feature length films from the top 20 list from 1990 through 1996; two randomly selected, feature length films from the top 20 list each year from 1960 to 1990. Unit of analysis: 5-minute intervals of film time. Selected findings: Film portrayals of tobacco use bottomed out in the eighties, and have since increased to levels last seen in the sixties. Films continue to portray smokers as successful, white males, while portrayal of smoking among women is increasing.

Teens take a look at tobacco use in the top 250 movies from 1991-1996. (1997). American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, Sacramento, CA. Substance(s) of interest: Tobacco. Sample: Top 50 box office movies each year from 1991 through 1996. Unit of analysis: Individual camera shots of tobacco use. Selected findings: 77 percent of the movies contained at least one tobacco incident; 23 percent had no incidents; 50 percent had 10 or more incidents. Tobacco use was portrayed as attractive in 33 percent of the movies, relaxing in 38 percent of the movies, and as a means of rebellion in 16 percent. Anti-smoking messages appeared in 29 percent of the movies. Leading and/or supporting actors smoked in 75 percent of movies that portrayed smoking; men lit up more than twice as often as women.

Terre, L., Drabman, R.S., and Speer, P. (1991). "Health-relevant behaviors in media." Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 21, pp. 1303-1319. Substance(s) of interest: Illegal drugs, legal drugs, tobacco, alcohol. Sample: 20 top box-office films each year from 1977-78 through 1987-88 (200 films). Unit of analysis: 5-minute intervals of film time. Selected findings: Overall, smoking increased over the time period. Smoking and illegal drug use were more common in R-rated movies. Alcohol consumption was greater in non-R-rated movies. Males were more likely than females to use tobacco or alcohol; low-status characters were more likely than high-status characters to engage in illegal drug use.

Tsao, J.C. (1997). "Informational and symbolic content of over-the-counter drug advertising on television." Journal of Drug Education, 27(2), pp. 173-197. Substance(s) of interest: Over-the-counter drugs. Sample: 150 commercials for over-the-counter drugs recorded from ABC, CBS, and NBC in 1993. Unit of analysis: Individual ads. Selected findings: Drug disclosures and drug performance most common type of information, followed by drug quality, drug ingredients, and drug popularity. Of the ads, 88 percent present over-the-counter drugs as a simple solution to relieve symptoms; 25 percent depict them casually rather than as products to be used carefully.

Wallack, L, Breed, W., and De Foe, J.R. (1985). "Alcohol and soap operas: Drinking in the light of day." Journal of Drug Education, 15(4), pp. 365-379. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: 4 ½ years of the daytime soap opera "All My Children," including 30 consecutive episodes from 1984. Unit of analysis: Characters. Selected findings: Depicted drinking and drinking problems realistically and accurately. There were three patterns of alcohol use identified: social facilitation; crisis management; and escape from reality. Negative discussions or consequences were associated only with drinking to escape from reality, and program may encourage drinking for purposes of social facilitation and crisis management.

Wallack, L., Breed, W., and Cruz, J. (1987). "Alcohol on prime-time television." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48(1), pp. 33-38. Substance(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Composite 2-week sample for all regularly scheduled, network, prime-time dramatic programming, fall 1984 (127 episodes). Unit of analysis: Program episodes; scenes; alcohol "appearances." Selected findings: 80 percent of the episodes contained one or more appearances of alcohol; 90 percent of dramas referred to alcohol; alcohol was ingested in 60 percent of programs. There were more than 10 drinking acts per hour. Alcohol was consumed almost three times more frequently than non-alcoholic beverages.

Wallack, L., Grube, J.W., Madden, P.A., and Breed, W. (1990). "Portrayals of alcohol on prime-time television." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 51(5), pp. 428-437. Substances(s) of interest: Alcohol. Sample: Composite 3-week sample of fictional prime-time network television programming from 1986 fall season. Unit of analysis: Program episodes; scenes. Selected findings: Alcohol appeared in 64 percent of episodes and was consumed in 50 percent; alcohol drinking acts occurred more than eight times per hour; most drinking occurred in made-for-television movies, followed by situation comedies, theatrical movies, and dramas. Regularly appearing characters were more likely to drink than non-regularly appearing characters; drinkers tended to be higher status, white, upper-class professionals.