Jackson Kristina, Gabrielli Joy, Colby Suzanne, Wray Tyler, Janssen Tim, Rogers Michelle, Delapaix Cassandra
Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC), Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, United States.
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Sep 8;14:e50649. doi: 10.2196/50649.
Digital media frequently contains positive portrayals of alcohol content, which has been shown to be associated with alcohol-related cognitions and behaviors. Because youth are heavy media consumers and have access to unsupervised, repeat viewing of media content on their personal mobile devices, it is critical to understand the frequency of encountering alcohol content in adolescents' daily lives and how adolescents engage with the content.
This paper outlines the study protocol for examining adolescents' exposure to alcohol-related content in digital media within their natural environments.
Adolescents (N=302; 31.8% boys, 16.2% nonbinary, 51.3% girls; 25.8% Asian, 3.6% American Indian, 21.5% Black, 4.6% other, 52% White, 25.8% Hispanic or Latinx; mean age 16.21, SD 0.77 y) enrolled in high school were recruited through social media to participate in a prospective study involving bursts of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) reports coupled with longer surveys. We conducted group orientation sessions via videoconference and online surveys, followed by a 21-day EMA period that included scheduled reports across 4 daily time blocks, as well as self-initiated reports on media exposure. Reports of alcohol content exposure included details about the platform, level of engagement, source characteristics, beliefs and perceived norms about the content, the viewing context, and whether the content was sponsored or branded. The participants submitted exposures to alcohol content as an image (screenshot or photo) or text description to be objectively coded. The participants completed a weekly online survey assessing alcohol use and related cognitions. EMA reports will be merged with coded image and text entries and with data from baseline, weekly, and follow-up surveys. Self-reported alcohol exposure will be explored descriptively, and differences in exposure tested across subgroups. Event-level data will be compared with random prompt data to examine differences at times of exposure versus nonexposure. Prospective associations between media alcohol content exposure and alcohol use will be explored over 1-week and 4-month time frames. Mediation of the association between media alcohol exposure and drinking will be tested to explore putative mechanisms.
EMA data collection took place from February 2022 to August 2023. Data management and preliminary analysis are ongoing. Preliminary data were disseminated through conference presentations in 2024-2025 and manuscripts are ongoing with full results anticipated to be published in 2025-2026.
By characterizing adolescents' real-world exposure to alcohol content in the media, the study provides critical information to develop and implement interventions to target youth behavior that are well suited to delivery via mobile devices. Next steps are to conduct focus groups to understand participants' lived experience of exposure to media alcohol content and reactions to proposed intervention targets. This study and subsequent qualitative work will launch a program of research to counter the effects of alcohol-related media exposure as experienced by adolescents in an effort to minimize underage alcohol involvement.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/50649.
数字媒体中经常出现对酒精含量的正面描绘，这已被证明与酒精相关的认知和行为有关。由于青少年是媒体的重度消费者，并且能够在无监督的情况下在个人移动设备上反复观看媒体内容，因此了解青少年日常生活中接触酒精内容的频率以及他们如何与这些内容互动至关重要。
本文概述了一项研究方案，旨在研究青少年在自然环境中接触数字媒体中与酒精相关内容的情况。
通过社交媒体招募了就读于高中的青少年（N = 302；男孩占31.8%，非二元性别占16.2%，女孩占51.3%；亚洲人占25.8%，美洲印第安人占3.6%，黑人占21.5%，其他占4.6%，白人占52%，西班牙裔或拉丁裔占25.8%；平均年龄16.21岁，标准差0.77岁）参与一项前瞻性研究，该研究包括一系列生态瞬时评估（EMA）报告以及较长时间的调查。我们通过视频会议和在线调查进行了小组指导会议，随后是为期21天的EMA阶段，包括在4个每日时间段内的定期报告以及关于媒体曝光的自主报告。酒精含量曝光报告包括有关平台、参与程度、来源特征、对内容的信念和感知规范、观看背景以及内容是否有赞助或品牌等细节。参与者将酒精含量曝光情况以图像（屏幕截图或照片）或文本描述的形式提交，以便进行客观编码。参与者每周完成一次在线调查，评估酒精使用情况和相关认知。EMA报告将与编码后的图像和文本条目以及来自基线、每周和后续调查的数据合并。将对自我报告的酒精曝光情况进行描述性探索，并测试不同亚组之间的曝光差异。将事件级数据与随机提示数据进行比较，以检查曝光时与未曝光时的差异。将在1周和4个月的时间范围内探索媒体酒精含量曝光与酒精使用之间的前瞻性关联。将测试媒体酒精曝光与饮酒之间关联的中介作用，以探索可能的机制。
EMA数据收集于2022年2月至2023年8月进行。数据管理和初步分析正在进行中。初步数据已在2024 - 2025年通过会议报告进行了传播，手稿正在撰写中，预计完整结果将于2025 - 2026年发表。
通过描述青少年在现实世界中接触媒体中酒精内容的情况，该研究为制定和实施针对青少年行为的干预措施提供了关键信息，这些干预措施非常适合通过移动设备进行实施。下一步是开展焦点小组讨论，以了解参与者接触媒体酒精内容的生活经历以及对提议的干预目标的反应。这项研究及后续的定性工作将启动一项研究计划，以应对青少年所经历的与酒精相关媒体曝光的影响，努力将未成年人饮酒行为降至最低。
国际注册报告识别码（IRRID）：DERR1-10.2196/50649。
