Media as social influence: Racial differences in the effects of peers and media on adolescent alcohol cognitions and consumption.

Abstract

Racial differences in the effects of peer and media influence on adolescents' alcohol cognitions and consumption were examined in a large-scale panel study. With regard to peer influence, results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the relation between perceived peer Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Frederick X. Gibbons, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 6207 Moore Hall, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755; or rick.gibbons@dartmouth.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/pubs/journals/adb NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptPsychol Addict Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 December 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript drinking and own drinking was significant for both Black and White adolescents, but it was stronger for the White adolescents. With regard to media influence, structural modeling analyses indicated that exposure to drinking in movies was associated with more alcohol consumption 8 months and 16 months later. These effects were mediated by increases in: the favorability of the adolescents' drinker prototypes, their willingness to drink, and their tendency to affiliate with friends who were drinking. Multiple group analyses indicated that, once again, the effects (both direct and indirect) were much stronger for White adolescents than for Black adolescents. The results suggest media influence works in a similar manner to social influence, and that Whites may be more susceptible to both types of influence.Keywords media influence; adolescent drinking; prototype-willingness African American (Black) adolescents start using substances later on average than do European American (White) adolescents and they use them less frequently (Johnston et al., 2005;Wallace et al., 2002). This is true in spite of the fact that Black adolescents are more likely to be raised in environments that provide opportunities to use (i.e., substance availability; LaVeist & Wallace, 2000) as well as a reason (i.e., more stress; Walker et al., 2000). Although many researchers have discussed this important paradox, there is no consensus as to why it exists. One hypothesis, explored in this study, involves social influence: Black adolescents are thought to be less vulnerable to peer pressure than are White adolescents (see Hoffman, Monge, Chou, & Valente, 2009, for a review). There is some evidence in support of this assumption, but it is mostly indirect. For example, the correlation between reports of friends' use and...

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