Impact of Substance Messages in Music Videos on Youth: Beware the Influence of Connectedness and Its Potential Prevention-Shielding Effect

Objective: Two studies were conducted to investigate the role of connectedness with music videos in affecting youths' beliefs about substances (alcohol and tobacco) embedded therein and the potential for a prevention message to limit the impact of these images. Method: The first study used cross-sectional data from a national sample of 1,023 adolescents (54.3% male) to evaluate the relationship between youths' consumption of music videos and their beliefs about the consequences of consuming alcohol and tobacco. A controlled experiment with 151 participants (57% male) then tested whether exposure to smoking in a video affects youths' smoking beliefs and the preventive potential of a pre-video warning. Results:Connectedness to music videos, not overall amount of viewing, is the main correlate of beliefs about the positive outcomes of consuming alcohol/tobacco. A single exposure to a music video with smoking images can increase beliefs that smoking leads to positive consequences, and connected viewers are especially receptive to these images. Alerting youths to the presence of substance messages in a video leads to differential results as a function of connectedness. Conclusions: Many youths spend hours every day watching music videos in which positive visuals about drinking and smoking abound. Rather than the quantity of viewing, it is the degree to which youths immerse themselves in these music videos that enhances their beliefs that smoking and drinking have positive consequences. Interventions that warn youths about the presence of substances in music videos can minimize their influence, but youths highly connected with the music video content are especially resistant to warnings.