Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jun;32(6):466-73.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2007.02.025.

Exposure to smoking in popular contemporary movies and youth smoking in Germany

Reiner Hanewinkel  1 , James D Sargent
Affiliations

Exposure to smoking in popular contemporary movies and youth smoking in Germany

Reiner Hanewinkel et al. Am J Prev Med. 2007 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Studies have linked exposure to movie smoking and smoking initiation among adolescents in the United States, but there has been only one published study of adolescents outside the U.S.

Method: A cross-sectional survey of 5586 schoolchildren aged 10-17 with a mean of 12.8 (SD=1.2) years from randomly selected secondary schools in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, was taken in October/November 2005. In August 2006, using previously validated methods, exposure to movie smoking was estimated from 398 internationally distributed films (98% produced and distributed by U.S. studios) released in Germany and examined its relationship with ever and current (30-day) smoking.

Results: Overall, 40.7% of the sample had tried smoking, and 12.3% were current smokers. The sample quartile (Q) of movie smoking exposure was significantly associated with the prevalence of smoking initiation: 0.17 of adolescents in Q1 had tried smoking; 0.35 in Q2; 0.47 in Q3; and 0.64 in Q4. Movie smoking exposure was significantly associated with the prevalence of current smoking: 0.03 for adolescents in Q1; 0.08 in Q2; 0.14 in Q3; and 0.25 in Q4. After controlling for sociodemographics, parent/friend/sibling smoking, school performance, personality characteristics, TV consumption, receptivity to tobacco marketing, and parenting style, the adjusted odds ratios for having tried smoking were 1.7 (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.4-2.1) for Q2, 1.8 (95% CI=1.5-2.3) for Q3, and 2.2 (95% CI=1.8-2.8) for Q4 compared with adolescents in Q1. The adjusted odds ratios for current smoking were 1.4 (95% CI=0.9-2.2) for Q2, 1.7 (95% CI=1.1-2.6) for Q3, and 2.0 (95% CI=1.3-3.1) for Q4 compared with adolescents in Q1.

Conclusions: Smoking in internationally distributed movies is associated with ever and current smoking among German adolescents. This suggests the need for prospective studies of this association in countries other than the U.S. and research into the potential impact of countrywide policies that would limit exposure of young adolescents to movie smoking.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Selection of student sample
Figure 2
Figure 2. Crude association between exposure to movie smoking and ever respective current smoking
* Exposure to 398 internationally distributed popular contemporary movies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Peto R, Lopez AD, Boreham J, Thun M, Heath C. Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries 1950–2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1994.
    1. Peto R, Lopez AD, Boreham J, Thun M, Heath C, Jr, Doll R. Mortality from smoking worldwide. Br Med Bull. 1996 Jan;52(1):12–21. - PubMed
    1. Bandura A. A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1986. Social Foundations of Thought and Action.
    1. Bailey SL, Ennett ST, Ringwalt CL. Potential mediators, moderators, or independent effects in the relationship between parents’ former and current cigarette use and their children’s cigarette use. Addict Behav. 1993 Nov-Dec;18(6):601–621. - PubMed
    1. Biglan A, Duncan TE, Ary DV, Smolkowski K. Peer and parental influences on adolescent tobacco use. J Behav Med. 1995 Aug;18(4):315–330. - PubMed

Publication types