Smoking In Movies Influences Teens To Become Established Smokers

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Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Respiratory / Asthma;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 03 Sep 2007 - 13:00 PST

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The more teenagers watch smoking in movies the higher their risk is of becoming established smokers who have consumed over 100 cigarettes during their lifetimes, says a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (JAMA/Archives).

Previous studies have indicated that the more teenagers are exposed to smoking in movies the more likely they are to start smoking. The authors wrote "However, not all adolescents who try smoking go on to become dependent smokers; half of high school seniors have tried smoking at some time, but only 7 percent are current daily smokers of half a pack or more. Little is known about the factors that discriminate adolescents who progress to dependent smoking from those who do not."

James D. Sargent, M.D., Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, N.H., and team looked at 6,522 American children aged 10-14 - they focused on the kids' smoking and movie-watching habits during 2003. The scientists had already identified displays of smoking in 532 popular movies during the five years before their study. They asked the children whether they had watched a random selection of 50 of these movies. They then calculated how many times each child had been exposed to movie smoking in those 50 films. Follow-up interviews took place eight, sixteen and twenty-four months later so that the children's smoking status could be registered.

The authors pointed out that 90% (5,637) of the children had never smoked at the beginning of the study - 0.5% (33) of them had smoked over 100 cigarettes. Within two years of the beginning of the study the number of established smokers went up to 125. They also found that the children who had been exposed to below the midpoint of movie smoking were less likely to have smoked 100 cigarettes compared to the children who had been exposed to above the midpoint. The link remained even after other factors were taken into account, such as age, smoking by a parent/friend and sensation-seeking qualitites.

The authors wrote "The context of current theory and research suggests the most plausible explanation is that frequent exposure to smoking cues in movies leads to more positive expectancies about effects of smoking, more favorable perceptions of smokers and a greater tendency to affiliate with teens who smoke, all factors that increase risk for smoking. Combined with previous findings showing that young persons who view more smoking in movies are at increased risk for initiating cigarette smoking, the present findings heighten concern about the public health implications of movie-smoking exposure by linking it with an outcome that predicts smoking-related morbidity and mortality in the future."

-- Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
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