There is ample evidence that exposure to mass media messages influences young viewers' attitudes and values in a number of domains.^2,3,4 There is also concern that media portrayals may influence young people's attitudes and behavior toward substance use.⁵ Of all the media commanding the attention of American adolescents, television probably has the greatest potential for exerting such influence. What messages does television make available to young people about alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs? The major aim of this study is to provide a systematic, detailed picture of substance use as portrayed in the television shows most popular among adolescents and adults.

Documenting the frequency and nature of substance use portrayals is a necessary first step in exploring television's role in forming young people's substance use attitudes and behavior. The ultimate effects of any media information, whether from television, popular music, motion pictures or any other medium, depend on a variety of factors. These include individual differences in interpretation, the influence of competing information from parents or peers, and variations in social and cultural background. Examining media messages is essential to understanding the myriad processes that determine whether a young person will engage in alcohol, tobacco or illicit drug use. If substance use is depicted frequently and positively in the television shows young people watch, then it makes sense to raise questions about the role of these depictions in encouraging substance use. If, on the other hand, substance use is portrayed rarely and negatively, then it makes little sense to attribute adolescents' substance use to the effects of television. Indeed, if substance use is presented as dangerous, unglamorous, or socially unacceptable, then television's role may be positive, its messages working to discourage, rather than encourage, use.

It is also important to recognize that adolescents watch different shows than adults, and that different groups of adolescents have distinct viewing patterns. Hence, this study compares the top-rated shows for adolescents with the top-rated shows among adults. In addition, the favorite shows among three sub-groups of adolescents - African Americans, Hispanics and whites - are also compared. This is the first study of substance portrayals to contrast these samples.

Substance Use Among American Youth

The U.S. faces problematic rates of illicit drug, alcohol and tobacco use among youth. In 1999, 55 percent of high school seniors reported having used an illegal drug at least once, as did 46 percent of tenth and 28 percent of eighth graders.⁶ Among adolescents ages 12 to 17, the average ages of first use of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin were 14, 15 and 14 years, respectively.⁷ Youth tobacco smoking rates are higher now than at any time in the past 17 years. Two-thirds of U.S. high school students have tried cigarettes and more than one-third currently smoke.⁸ Every day another 3,000 American children and teenagers become regular smokers.⁹

Alcohol consumption among adolescents remains at high levels. Eighty percent of U.S. high school students have tried alcohol and 51 percent of students are current drinkers;¹⁰ in 1997, more than 31 percent of 12th graders, 25 percent of 10th graders, and 14 percent of 8th graders claimed to have consumed five or more alcoholic drinks in the preceding two weeks.¹¹ Perhaps most disturbing, among 12- to 17-year-olds who exhibit no other problem behaviors, those who have used marijuana, alcohol, or cigarettes in the past month are 17 times more likely to later consume drugs such as cocaine, heroin or LSD than those who have not used marijuana, alcohol or cigarettes.¹²

Television and Adolescents

American adolescents spend a good deal of time using mass media, and television is the medium they use most. A national study of childhood and adolescent media use sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that young people ages 8 to 18 years spend more than three hours a day watching television. This is about three times the time expenditure for radio, the closest competitor in the study. Viewing hours and preferences differed significantly by ethnicity. African Americans watched the most, just over 4 hours and 40 minutes per day. Hispanic youth averaged 3 hours and 50 minutes, and white youth watched just under 3 hours. Situation comedy and drama were the most popular types of programs for all three groups, but whites were disproportionately attracted to drama compared to the other two groups.¹³

Perhaps no other question in communication research has been studied more than the impact of television on children and adolescents. Although there may be disagreement on the size of the influence and whether it is, on balance, positive or negative, there can be no serious doubt that television plays a role in the process of socialization.^14,15,16 Furthermore, evidence is mounting that increased television viewing is a risk factor for the onset of alcohol use in adolescents.^17,18,19

Previous Research on Television Substance Portrayals

The majority of the systematic analyses of substance use portrayals on television have focused on alcohol. While these reports are difficult to compare due to inconsistencies in methods and measurements, they do establish that references to alcohol use-either visual, verbal, or both - occur several times during an average hour of prime-time television programming. The group of studies that provide the most reliable historical comparisons suggest a trend toward more frequent alcohol portrayals in the late 1970s and early 1980s, followed by an apparent decline in these portrayals between 1984 and 1986. Even in the 1986 programming, however, over three-fourths of prime-time drama episodes had references to alcohol, and portrayals of actual consumption appeared in about half.²⁰ More recent studies confirm that the depiction of alcohol use is a regular occurrence on television.²¹

Equally important as the frequency of alcohol portrayals is the nature of those portrayals. Here the research suggests that alcohol consumption usually appears on television as a background activity. That is, characters drink or talk about drinking in the context of other activities, without the attachment of any direct message, either pro or con, about alcohol consumption. Drinking, according to the existing research, has generally been presented as a routine, problem-free activity. Those who drink on television are more likely to be central characters, more attractive, and of higher status than those who do not drink. References to the negative consequences of drinking are rare.^22,23,24

Only a few studies have looked at tobacco portrayals. In studies using comparable measures, smoking has appeared about one-tenth as often as alcohol. The research shows a sharp decline in tobacco use on television from the 1950s through the early 1980s, followed by a small increase through the early 1990s. As with alcohol, smoking is more often associated with important, positive characters than peripheral, negative characters.^25,26

Only two studies of illicit drug portrayals, both published in the 1970s, were found. At that time, illicit drug references of any kind - verbal or visual - were quite rare, occurring only once in every five hours of prime-time programming.²⁷

² Comstock, G., with Paik, H. (1991). Television and the American Child. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

³ Christenson, P. G., & Roberts, D. F. (1998). It's not only rock & roll: Popular music in the lives of adolescents. New Jersey: Hampton Press, Inc.

⁴ Roberts, D.F. (1993). Adolescents and the mass media: From "Leave It to Beaver" to "Beverly Hills, 90210." Teachers College Record, 94 (3), 629-643.

⁵ Strasburger, V. (1995) Adolescents and the mass media: Medical and psychological impact. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

⁶ Johnston, L.D., O'Malley, P.M., & Bachman, J.G. (1999). National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1998 Volume I: Secondary School Students. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Drug Abuse.

⁷ National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. (1997). Rockville, MD: Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

⁸ Ozer, E. M., Brindis, C. D., Millstein, S. G., Knopf, D. K., & Irwin, C. E., Jr. (1997). America's Adolescents: Are they Healthy? San Francisco, CA: University of California at San Francisco, National Adolescent Health Information Center.

⁹ The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University 1995 Annual Report. (1996). New York: Columbia University, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

¹⁰ Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance: United States, 1997. (1998). Atlanta, GA: Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, MMWR 47(SS-3).

¹¹ Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., & Bachman, J. G., op cit.

¹² Substance Abuse and the American Adolescent: A Report by the Commission on Substance Abuse Among America's Adolescents. (1997). New York: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

¹³ Roberts, D.F., Foehr, U.G., Rideout, V.J., & Brodie, M. (1999). Kids and Media at the New Millennium: Executive Summary. Menlo Park, CA: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

¹⁴ Comstock with Paik, op. cit.

¹⁵ Roberts, 1993, op. cit.

¹⁶ Strasburger, V. (1995) Adolescents and the mass media: Medical and psychological impact. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

¹⁷ Kotch, J.B., Coulter, M.L., & Lipsitz, A. (1986). Does televised drinking influence children's attitudes toward alcohol? Addictive Behaviors, 11(1), 67-70.

¹⁸ Robinson, T.N., Chen, H.L., & Killen, J.D. (1998). Television and music video exposure and risk of adolescent alcohol use. Pediatrics, 102, 1-6.

¹⁹ Rychtarik, R.G., Fairbank, J.A., Allen, C.M., Fox., D.W., & Drabman, R.S. (1993). Alcohol use in television programming: Effects on children's behavior. Addictive Behaviors, 8(1), 19-22.

²⁰ 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

²¹ Mathios, A., Avery, R., Biscogni, C., and Shanahan, J. (1998). Alcohol portrayal on prime-time television: Manifest and latent messages. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 59, pp. 305-310.

²² Mathios, op. cit.

²³ Signorelli, N. (1987). Drinking, sex and violence on television: The cultural indicators perspective. Journal of Drug Education, 17(3), 245-60.

²⁴ 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.

²⁵ Cruz, J., & Wallack, L. (1986). Trends in tobacco use on television. American Journal of Public Health, 76(6), 698-699.

²⁶ Hazan, A. R., & Glantz, S.A. (1995). Current trends in tobacco use on prime-time fictional television. American Journal of Public Health, 85(1), 116-117.

²⁷ Fernandez-Collado, C.F., Greenberg, B.S., Korzenny, F., & Atkin, C. K. (1978). Sexual intimacy and drug use in TV series. Journal of Communication, 28(3), 31-37.