Study Links Alcohol in Films, Teen Drinking

Teens who have seen a lot of alcohol drinking in movies may be more likely to drink themselves, a new study concludes. Researchers used information from a long-term study of British children. When they were 15, about 5,000 of them were asked about how often and how much alcohol they drank. They also were asked about which of 50 popular movies they had seen. Teens were put into groups based on how much alcohol drinking they had seen in these movies. Overall, drinking was common. About 86% of the teens said they had tried alcohol. Nearly half had participated in binge drinking. About 40% said they had had some sort of problem with school, work, friends or police that was related to alcohol. Researchers adjusted their numbers to account for factors other than movie exposure that might make teens more likely to drink.