Whitney Helms

Literature Review
Intro: This paper investigates underage drinking and social factors that influence the social
consumption of alcohol. More specifically we will explore sources which speak to media, peer and context influence on underage drinking.

Categories: Causes of underage drinking

The Georgia Division of Public Health analyzed data from a survey which is called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In this survey students reported that they drink at someone elses house, and some report that alcohol is given to them. After this survey was reviewed it was apparent that further research on underage drinking behavior was needed. It was decided to be helped by enforcing the legal age limit of twenty-one and also keeping limits on certain days and times that you can purchase alcohol. Center for Disease Control (2009) The Association of Schools of Public Health also published an article about trying to prevent and reduce underage drinking. This is all being done by a few different offices working together. This article wants people to know the extent and the consequences of alcohol use. Research is also focused on why students use alcohol differently from adults. Three articles provide information on whether marketing and advertising alcoholic beverages have an influence on adolescents or not. These journals have various answers from one another. In this journal Hastings, Anderson, Cooke, and Gordon(2005) state that there are two types of studies and one of the studies is on an econometric study. The econometric study

Whitney Helms

investigations suggest that alcohol advertising has a minimal effect in comparison to other things that aggregate alcohol consumption, advertisement is not the biggest threat or factor that leads adolescents to drinking. This case is used to support that advertising doesnt affect demand for alcohol. It is also insignificant when compared to the influence of the income. The second type of study was consumer studies and it was done by examining how peoples drinking knowledge, attitudes, and their behaviors varied with the different exposure to advertisements of alcohol. On the other hand, the United States Department of Health and Human Services have concerns that marketers may be unfairly exploiting adolescents, particularly the alcohol and tobacco marketers. This issue was addressed by doing research on adolescents cognitive and emotional development. It has been examined that they United States tobacco and alcohol industries try to protect these young adolescents through self-regulation only that the assumption is that adolescents are susceptible to influence by advertising. The main reason for this review was for federal legislation to protect these young individuals from advertising and promotion from these types of products. Pechmann, Levine, Loughilin, Leslie(2005) Jernigan, Ostroff, and Ross(2005) also state how alcohol industry self-regulation is the top protection against youth exposure to advertising and marketing. Research has been done in alcohol companies that significant amounts of advertising are more likely to be exposed to youth than adults. If there were a threshold of a certain amount of advertisements of alcohol to a youth audience there would still leave a large amount of exposure to kids of alcohol marketing. This is a clear representation of an international public health crisis, it is happening everywhere.

Whitney Helms

Escobar-Chaves and Anderson(2008) seem to recognize that the youth spends an increasing amount of time using electronic media. These adolescents are also engaging in unhealthy behaviors such as drinking. Many people now seem to realize there are advertisements of alcohol and tobacco use everywhere on electronic media, which may have a big influence on why adolescents are doing these sorts of bad behaviors, because these young individuals have so much exposure to the advertisements. Statistics show that on average use American youth is exposed to six to eight hours of various forms of media in which these behaviors are revealed. In comparison to the previous article Jernigan, Ostroff, and Ross(2005) also discuss how electronic media and alcohol advertising have an influence on young adolescents. The Center on Alcohol and Youth has collected data to calculate the exposure of alcohol advertising between adults and adolescents shown on television, the radio, internet, magazines, and other media sources.

Emotional implications for underage drinking and peer pressure

The National Study of Adolescent Health examines that the engagement of alcohol is involved when these young students are under elevated amounts of distress or when their academic achievement is going down. The difference between this article and others are that in these cases drinking is the predictor rather than the outcome, which is what the rest of the journals state. Crosnoe, Muller, Frank(2004)

Whitney Helms

Shippee and Owens(2011) article is related to Crosnoe, Muller, and Franks because they are both showing how emotions can lead to drinking, especially for underage students. Depression is more strongly in girls and students tend to cope different ways, some turn to alcohol to solve all of their problems. Alcohol can provide divergent behavioral problems and emotional coping feelings for boys and girls.

Physical implications for underage drinking and peer pressure

Updegraff, McHale, Crouter, Kupanoff(2001) explain that parents play a very critical role in their childs life by encouraging interactions with other youth for them to develop social relationships and to make friends. Sometimes these friends may turn out to be not what they look like, and may be a very bad influence on ones life, trying to engage them in bad behavior by peer pressure. It is also shown in the Crosnoe, Muller, and Frank(2004) article that kids drink or give into this peer pressure for gaining of their status, they just want to fit in.