Prevalence of smoking in movies as perceived by teenagers longitudinal trends and predictors

Background: Smoking in movies is prevalent. However, use of content analysis to describe trends in smoking in movies has provided mixed results and has not tapped what adolescents actually perceive.

Purpose: To assess the prospective trends in the prevalence of smoking in movies as perceived by teenagers and identify predictors associated with these trends.

Methods: Using data from the Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort Study collected during 2000-2006 when participants were aged between 12 and 18 years (N=4735), latent variable growth models were employed to describe the longitudinal trends in the perceived prevalence of smoking in movies using a four-level scale (never to most of the time) measured every 6 months, and examined associations between these trends and demographic, smoking-related attitudinal and socio-environmental predictors. Analysis was conducted in 2009.

Results: At baseline, about 50% of participants reported seeing smoking in movies some of the time, and another 36% reported most of the time. The prevalence of smoking in movies as perceived by teenagers declined over time, and the decline was steeper in those who were aged 14-16 years than those who were younger at baseline (p≤0.05). Despite the decline, teenagers still reported seeing smoking in movies some of the time. Teenagers who reported more close friends who smoked also reported a higher prevalence of smoking in movies at baseline (regression coefficients=0.04-0.18, p<0.01).

Conclusions: Teenagers' perception of the prevalence of smoking in movies declined over time, which may be attributable to changes made by the movie industry. Despite the decline, teenagers were still exposed to a moderate amount of smoking imagery. Interventions that further reduce teenage exposure to smoking in movies may be needed to have an effect on adolescent smoking.