ABSTRACTS
Volume 8, Number 4
July-August 2003
Vol. 8, Num. 4: Contents | Editorial
| Up Front | Abstracts
Articles Media and Marijuana:
A Longitudinal Analysis of News Media Effects on Adolescents' Marijuana
Use and Related Outcomes, 1977-1999
JO ELLEN STRYKER A1
A1 The Harvard School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
This study examined how aggregate levels of news coverage about marijuana
have impacted adolescents' marijuana behavior generally, and through
the intervening variables of personal disapproval and perceived harmfulness
of marijuana, two variables that existing research has identified as
significant predictors of adolescent marijuana use at the aggregate
level. It was hypothesized that news coverage of reasons why people
should not use marijuana would cause increase in aggregate marijuana
abstinence, perceived harmfulness, and personal disapproval. Conversely,
news coverage of positive aspects of marijuana use would cause decreases
in marijuana abstinence, perceived harmfulness, and personal disapproval.
Results of distributed lagged time-series regression and non-linear
modeling offered support for two of the three proposed hypotheses. Aggregate
media coverage explained a significant portion of the variation in adolescents'
abstinence from marijuana use over time. It also explained a significant
portion of the variation in personal disapproval of marijuana. Personal
disapproval was found to partially mediate the relationship between
media coverage and marijuana abstinence. Implications for the conceptualization
of media effects on health behaviors are discussed.
Health Related Content in Prime-Time
Television Programming
CAROL BYRD-BREDBENNER A1, MARY FINCKENOR A2,
DARLENE GRASSO A3
A1 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New
Jersey, USA
A2 Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA
A3 Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey, USA
This study identified, content analyzed, and described the health-related
content (HRC) presented in the top-ranked prime-time network programs
for the age 2 to 11 year-old category. The results reveal that viewers
see one HRC-containing scene approximately every four minutes. Foods
and alcoholic beverages are frequently shown and consumed. Smoking,
drug abuse, and promiscuous sex are relatively uncommon. In most scenes,
the HRC is not directly related to the main point of the scene. The
characters involved in HRC-containing scenes tend to be slender white
men. In addition, many of the HRC-containing scenes portray negative
health behaviors.
Stigmatizing Smokers: Public Sentiment
Toward Cigarette Smoking and Its Relationship to Smoking Behaviors
SEI-HILL KIM A1, James Shanahan A2
A1 Department of Communication Studies, Saint Mary's College, Notre
Dame, Indiana, USA
A2 Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York,
USA
Public sentiment in the United States has been evolving against cigarette
smoking. Providing support for stronger tobacco control legislation,
unfavorable public sentiment has contributed to the decrease in the
size of the smoking population in this country. The present study hypothesizes
that the unfavorable public sentiment may also discourage cigarette
smoking by creating an unfavorable "smoking climate" in which
smoking is socially rejected as a deviant behavior. Analyses of several
secondary data-sets provided evidence that smoking rates are lower in
the states where the public holds relatively unfavorable sentiment toward
cigarette smoking. The relationship between public sentiment and smoking
rates was significant even after controlling for the effects of state-level
tobacco control measures, such as cigarette taxes and smoking restrictions
in private workplaces and restaurants. We also found that smokers who
have experienced unfavorable public sentiment are more willing to quit
smoking than those who have not, supporting the hypothesized effects
of antismoking public sentiment on smoking behaviors.
Stroke Knowledge and Barriers
to Stroke Prevention Among African Americans: Implications for Health
Communication
CHARLOTTE A. PRATT A1, LOUISA HA A2, STEVEN R.
LEVINE A3, CORNELIUS B. PRATT A4
A1 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
A2 Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA
A3 Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, New York, New
York, USA
A4 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Stroke is a major cause of death and disability, especially among African
Americans. Yet research on stroke knowledge and barriers to stroke prevention
among African Americans is limited. This study used a 50-item questionnaire
to conduct structured telephone interviews with 379 African American
adults, 50 years or older. The questionnaire included questions on stroke
knowledge, stroke risk behaviors, and barriers to stroke prevention.
A stroke knowledge score was computed by assigning points for correct
responses on knowledge items. The average stroke knowledge score of
participants was 10.9, out of a maximum possible score of 27. Stroke
knowledge was significantly related to the presence of hypertension,
heart disease, diabetes, and family history of stroke. College education
was significantly associated with older respondents' stroke knowledge.
Younger college-educated respondents had more knowledge about the risky
behaviors that lead to stroke than those with less education. Respondents
preferred hospitals to churches or senior centers for receiving stroke
information and for learning about stroke from their physicians. Stress
and poor financialstatus were most frequently reported as barriers to
stroke prevention. These findings have implications for developing more
effective strategies for educating African Americans about stroke prevention.
Order from Chaos: Organizational
Aspects of Information, Education, and Communication (a Case Study from
Mali)
KRISS BARKER A1
A1 Population Media Center, Shelburne, Vermont, USA
This article does not have an abstract.
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