Adolescents' exposure to tobacco and alcohol content in YouTube music videos

Cranwell, Jo; Murray, Rachael; Lewis, Sarah; Leonardi-Bee, Jo; Dockrell, Martin; Britton, John

Abstract

AIMS: To quantify tobacco and alcohol content, including branding, in popular contemporary YouTube music videos; and measure adolescent exposure to such content. DESIGN: Ten-second interval content analysis of alcohol, tobacco or electronic cigarette imagery in all UK Top 40 YouTube music videos during a 12-week period in 2013/14; on-line national survey of adolescent viewing of the 32 most popular high-content videos.

SETTING: Great Britain.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2068 adolescents aged 11–18 years who completed an on-line survey.

MEASUREMENTS: Occurrence of alcohol, tobacco and electronic cigarette use, implied use, paraphernalia or branding in music videos and proportions and estimated numbers of adolescents who had watched sampled videos.

FINDINGS: Alcohol imagery appeared in 45% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 33–51%] of all videos, tobacco in 22% (95% CI = 13–27%) and electronic cigarettes in 2% (95% CI = 0–4%). Alcohol branding appeared in 7% (95% CI = 2–11%) of videos, tobacco branding in 4% (95% CI = 0–7%) and electronic cigarettes in 1% (95% CI = 0–3%). The most frequently observed alcohol, tobacco and electronic cigarette brands were, respectively, Absolut Tune, Marlboro and E-Lites. At least one of the 32 most popular music videos containing alcohol or tobacco content had been seen by 81% (95% CI = 79%, 83%) of adolescents surveyed, and of these 87% (95% CI = 85%, 89%) had re-watched at least one video. The average number of videos seen was 7.1 (95% CI = 6.8, 7.4). Girls were more likely to watch and also re-watch the videos than boys, P < 0.001.

CONCLUSIONS: Popular YouTube music videos watched by a large number of British adolescents, particularly girls, include significant tobacco and alcohol content, including branding.

Citation

Cranwell, J., Murray, R., Lewis, S., Leonardi-Bee, J., Dockrell, M., & Britton, J. (in press). Adolescents' exposure to tobacco and alcohol content in YouTube music videos. Addiction, 110(4), https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12835

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 8, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jan 28, 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 8, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 8, 2016
• Journal: Addiction
• Print ISSN: 0965-2140
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0443
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 110
• Issue: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12835
• Keywords: Adolescent exposure, alcohol, music videos, new media, tobacco, YouTube
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/742504
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12835/abstract
• Contract Date: Aug 8, 2016