Risk Perceptions Regarding Alcohol-Related Injuries: Teens and Viewing Crime and Emergency Shows on Television

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar VI
  In Scholar to Scholar Session: Perceptions of risk in health decision making

Abstract

We examined if media exposure and attention would predict and partially mediate the effects of various individual-difference variables on alcohol-related risk perceptions among teen viewers of crime and emergency shows on television. Risk perceptions including perceived severity, perceived prevalence, control, and concern regarding alcohol-related incidents were outcome measures. Attention to such shows was predictive of and partially mediated perceptions regarding alcohol-related risks. Findings suggest that entertainment narratives can have unintended positive impacts on health-related beliefs.

Authors

• Michael Slater, Ohio State University

• Parul Jain, Ohio State University