Cargando…

Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers

Background: Responsible drinking messages (RDMs) are a key component of many education-based interventions for reducing alcohol harms. The evidence base for the effectiveness of RDMs is extremely limited, with some recent research suggesting iatrogenic effects of such messages. Objective: To examine...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Moss, Antony C., Evans, Stephen, Albery, Ian P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664684/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28981477
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101183
_version_ 1783275032785453056
author Moss, Antony C.
Evans, Stephen
Albery, Ian P.
author_facet Moss, Antony C.
Evans, Stephen
Albery, Ian P.
author_sort Moss, Antony C.
collection PubMed
description Background: Responsible drinking messages (RDMs) are a key component of many education-based interventions for reducing alcohol harms. The evidence base for the effectiveness of RDMs is extremely limited, with some recent research suggesting iatrogenic effects of such messages. Objective: To examine the effects of exposure to health messages on attitudes towards drinking and drunkenness, and intentions to drink and get drunk, amongst underage drinkers. Methods: Ninety-four underage drinkers were recruited from colleges in the UK. Participants were either actively or passively exposed to one of two health messages (RDM or general wellbeing). Measures of attitudes and intentions towards drinking and drunkenness were obtained one week before and immediately after participation in the study. A unit estimation task was also included. Results: Active exposure to RDMs led to more positive attitude towards drunkenness, while passive exposure led to more negative attitudes. Passive RDM exposure led to increased intentions to get drunk in future. Wellbeing posters produced the opposite effect in some but not all of these measures. Conclusions: Exposure to RDMs may have some beneficial effects in terms of creating more negative attitudes towards alcohol consumption, but we also identified potential iatrogenic effects regarding attitudes and intentions towards drunkenness amongst an underage sample of drinkers. Further research is required to better understand optimal ways of framing RDMs to produce positive changes in attitudes, intentions, and prospective drinking behaviour.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5664684
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-56646842017-11-06 Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers Moss, Antony C. Evans, Stephen Albery, Ian P. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Responsible drinking messages (RDMs) are a key component of many education-based interventions for reducing alcohol harms. The evidence base for the effectiveness of RDMs is extremely limited, with some recent research suggesting iatrogenic effects of such messages. Objective: To examine the effects of exposure to health messages on attitudes towards drinking and drunkenness, and intentions to drink and get drunk, amongst underage drinkers. Methods: Ninety-four underage drinkers were recruited from colleges in the UK. Participants were either actively or passively exposed to one of two health messages (RDM or general wellbeing). Measures of attitudes and intentions towards drinking and drunkenness were obtained one week before and immediately after participation in the study. A unit estimation task was also included. Results: Active exposure to RDMs led to more positive attitude towards drunkenness, while passive exposure led to more negative attitudes. Passive RDM exposure led to increased intentions to get drunk in future. Wellbeing posters produced the opposite effect in some but not all of these measures. Conclusions: Exposure to RDMs may have some beneficial effects in terms of creating more negative attitudes towards alcohol consumption, but we also identified potential iatrogenic effects regarding attitudes and intentions towards drunkenness amongst an underage sample of drinkers. Further research is required to better understand optimal ways of framing RDMs to produce positive changes in attitudes, intentions, and prospective drinking behaviour. MDPI 2017-10-05 2017-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5664684/ /pubmed/28981477 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101183 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Moss, Antony C.
Evans, Stephen
Albery, Ian P.
Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers
title Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers
title_full Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers
title_fullStr Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers
title_short Effect of Health Messages on Alcohol Attitudes and Intentions in a Sample of 16–17-Year-Old Underage Drinkers
title_sort effect of health messages on alcohol attitudes and intentions in a sample of 16–17-year-old underage drinkers
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664684/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28981477
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101183
work_keys_str_mv AT mossantonyc effectofhealthmessagesonalcoholattitudesandintentionsinasampleof1617yearoldunderagedrinkers
AT evansstephen effectofhealthmessagesonalcoholattitudesandintentionsinasampleof1617yearoldunderagedrinkers
AT alberyianp effectofhealthmessagesonalcoholattitudesandintentionsinasampleof1617yearoldunderagedrinkers