Do you see what I see? A character analysis of health risk behaviors in television shows popular with Black adolescents in the US

Abstract

Adolescents spend many hours per day watching television, and there are racial differences in time spent watching television and in show preferences. Prior research suggests there are also differential associations in how exposure to media content affects adolescent behavior. This study examines the demographic representation of main characters and health risk behaviors (i.e., sex, alcohol use, violence, bullying, and their combinations) portrayed in television content popular with Black and non-Black adolescents. A content analysis of television show characters (n=377) from the 2014–15 season was conducted on shows popular with 14–17 year old adolescent audiences in the United States. Group popularity was determined by Nielsen ratings segmented by Black and non-Black (primarily White) adolescents. Results suggest that character representation varies by whether shows were popular with Blacks or others, and that risk portrayals are common in all popular content with few group differences. Implications for adolescent behavior are discussed.

Reframing Adolescent Development: Identifying Communications Challenges and Opportunities

“…Adolescence has long been characterized as a tumultuous period of life (a time of "storm and stress"), filled with interpersonal conflict, emotional upheaval, and irrational risk-taking (Buchanan & Holmbeck, 1998;Hall, 1904). This is echoed and amplified by the media, who stoke fears about the challenges facing the next generation and who fixate on the excesses of youth culture and the threat that modern life poses to adolescent development (Bleakley et al, 2017(Bleakley et al, , 2018Busso, Gibbons, Down, & O'Neil, 2018).…”

“…Adolescence has long been characterized as a tumultuous period of life (a time of “storm and stress”), filled with interpersonal conflict, emotional upheaval, and irrational risk‐taking (Buchanan & Holmbeck, 1998; Hall, 1904). This is echoed and amplified by the media, who stoke fears about the challenges facing the next generation and who fixate on the excesses of youth culture and the threat that modern life poses to adolescent development (Bleakley et al., 2017, 2018; Busso, Gibbons, Down, & O’Neil, 2018). The assumption that adolescence is an inherently dangerous time is especially concerning because negative attitudes about young people can become a self‐fulfilling prophecy, shaping adolescents’ own behavior as well as their treatment by parents, teachers, and other adults (Buchanan & Hughes, 2009).…”