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Abstract
Previous research found support for an association between exposure to alcohol-related media content and alcohol attitudes, intentions and behavior. Nevertheless, research on what makes young people susceptible to the occurrence of this relationship is scarce. The current study examined the behavioral activation (BAS) and inhibition system (BIS) as moderators of the relationship between soap opera viewing and alcohol attitudes. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among a sample of 922 adolescents (Mage = 14.96 years, SD = .85, 56% girls). Regression analyses showed no association between total television viewing and alcohol attitudes, but did confirm that soap opera viewing is associated with positive attitudes towards alcohol use. Moderation analyses indicated that BAS did not moderate this relationship, while BIS did; the relationship between soap opera viewing and positive attitudes toward alcohol was only significant for adolescents with a low BIS-profile. These results provide support for the premise that an elevated BIS protects adolescents from the effect of soap opera viewing frequency on their alcohol attitudes.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jolien Vangeel
Jolien Vangeel is a Ph.D. Student at the School for Mass Communication Research, KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research interests include media effects, risk behavior and problematic media use.
Kathleen Beullens
Kathleen Beullens (Ph.D., KU Leuven, 2009) is an assistant professor at the School for Mass Communication Research, KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research focuses on the effects of the media on children and adolescents’ wellbeing.
Lien Goossens
Lien Goossens (Ph.D., Ghent University, 2009) is a tenure track docent in the Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology Communication at Ghent University. Her research interests include studying mechanisms of eating and weight pathology in children and adolescents.
Leentje Vervoort
Leentje Vervoort (Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, 2010) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology Communication at Ghent University. Her research interests include experimental developmental psychopathology, temperament, cognitive processes, automatic processes.
Nathalie De Cock
Nathalie De Cock is a Ph.D. Student at the Department of Food Safety and Food Quality at Ghent University. Her research interests include nutrition, children and adolescents, obesity.
Wendy Van Lippevelde
Wendy Van Lippevelde (Ph.D., Ghent University, 2012) is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Public Health at Ghent University. Her research interests include health promotion and obesity prevention.
Steven Eggermont
Steven Eggermont (Ph.D., KU Leuven, 2006) is a Professor of Media Psychology and Director at the School for Mass Communication Research at KU Leuven. His research interests include children's and adolescents' media use, media use and health behaviors, and the processes underlying media effects.