Alcohol-branded merchandise and its association with drinking attitudes and outcomes in US adolescents

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009 Mar;163(3):211-7. doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2008.554.

Abstract

Objective: To describe ownership of alcohol-branded merchandise (ABM) and its association with attitudinal susceptibility, initiation of alcohol use, and binge drinking.

Design: Three-wave longitudinal study.

Setting: Confidential telephone survey.

Participants: Representative US sample of 6522 adolescents aged 10 to 14 years at baseline survey (4309 of whom were never-drinkers at 8 months); subjects were resurveyed at 16 and/or 24 months. Main Exposures Ownership of ABM (first assessed at the 8-month survey) and attitudinal susceptibility to alcohol use.

Outcome measures: Initiation of alcohol use that parents did not know about and binge drinking (> or =5 drinks in a row).

Results: Prevalence of ABM ownership ranged from 11% of adolescents (at 8 months) to 20% (at 24 months), which extrapolates to 2.1 to 3.1 million US adolescents, respectively. Clothing and headwear comprised 88% of ABM. Beer brands accounted for 75% of items; 45% of items bore the Budweiser label. Merchandise was obtained primarily from friends and/or family (71%) but was also purchased by the adolescents themselves (24%) at stores. Among never-drinkers, ABM ownership and susceptibility were reciprocally related, each significantly predicting the other during an 8-month period. In turn, we found that ABM ownership and susceptibility predicted both initiation of alcohol use and binge drinking, while controlling for a broad range of covariates.

Conclusions: Alcohol-branded merchandise is widely distributed among US adolescents, who obtain the items one-quarter of the time through direct purchase at retail outlets. Among never-drinkers, ABM ownership is independently associated with susceptibility to as well as with initiation of drinking and binge drinking.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior* / psychology
  • Advertising*
  • Age Factors
  • Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology*
  • Alcohol Drinking / psychology
  • Attitude to Health
  • Attitude*
  • Causality
  • Child
  • Clothing*
  • Ethanol / poisoning
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Social Environment
  • Social Marketing
  • United States / epidemiology

Substances

  • Ethanol