Transcript Slide 1

Depictions of Substance Use
in Reality Television:
A Content Analysis of The Osbournes: The First Season
Nicole Blair, MPH
Health Scientist
Office on Smoking and Health
TM
Acknowledgements
Study completed for class project at RSPH
Co-authors:
 So Kuen Yue, MPH, CHES
Research Project Coordinator
Rollins School of Public Health
.
 Ranbir Singh, MPH
Graduate Student
New York University College of Dentistry
 Jay Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor and Director
Center for Public Health Communication,
Rollins School of Public Health
Background
 More than 98% of U.S. households have a TV set*
 13 to 24-year olds watch 13.6 hours of TV per week**
 Reality TV is increasing in popularity
– In 2003, 6 of the top 10 and
11 of the top 20 programs
.
were reality shows
– Last Fall, reality shows filled 18 hours of network TV
programming, up from 6 hours in 2003
* Nielson Media Research, 1998 Report on Television
** Brier NR, Move Over Prime-time!, American Demographics, July/August 2004; 26, 6.
 Eric Schmuckler, Facing Reality, Mediaweek; May 31, 2004
Background
 Exposure to ATOD content can impact audiences—
particularly youth
– As much as 50% of youth smoking can be linked to
smoking in the movies*
– Alcohol use on TV without
. demonstrated negative
consequences can lead to positive beliefs about alcohol
among youth**
 Movies, soap operas and prime-time TV, and music
videos have been analyzed for their alcohol, tobacco,
and other drug (ATOD) content
* Sargent JD, Beach ML, Dalton MA, et al. (2001) Effect of seeing tobacco use in films on trying smoking
among adolescents: cross sectional study. British Medical Journal, 323, 1-6.
** Roberts DF, Christenson PG. (2000) “Here’s Looking at You, Kid”: Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco in
Entertainment Media. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, CA.
The Osbournes
 Aired on MTV
 MTV target audience is aged
12-34
 Viewer observes the everyday
life of a famous music
performer and his family
 MTV’s highest rated show in
April 2002 with 7.8 million
viewers
Methods
 Research question:
– How are ATOD depicted in a reality television program
watched by youth?
 Content Analysis of The First Season (2002)
.
– 10 Episodes
– 22 Minutes each
 Three coders all viewing episodes together
Instrument
 Coding sheet with grid to record content
– Visual vs Verbal depictions of ATOD
– Substance use endorsement vs substance use rejection
– Characters involved
• Ozzy
• Sharon
• Kelly
• Jack
• Friends/Family
Alcohol
Visual
+
O S
Time
Verbal
-
K J
Code
F
17:32
Comments:
“don’t drink/do drugs”
Endorsement and Rejection
Friend:
I’m going to smoke a cigarette
Sharon:
Oh...I see...this is very nice
(holding liquor bottle)
Kelly:
Mom, just leave it
Sharon:
No, I’m going to take a piss in it
and put it back
Kelly:
Mom, are you nuts
Results
Number of ATOD Incidents per Episode
16
Number of ATOD
Incidents
14
12
10
.
8
6
4
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
Episode
Average: 9.1 per episode
Standard Dev: 4.82
Range: 2–16 incidents
6
7
8
9
10
Results
Direction and Content of ATOD Incidents
Alcohol (54%)
Rejection
Endorsement
Tobacco (20%)
Rejection
Endorsement
Drug (27%)
Rejection
Endorsement
2 = 14.7, df = 2, p = 0.001
Results
Nature and Format of ATOD Incidents
40
Visual
Number of ATOD
Incidents
35
30
Verbal
25
20
15
10
5
0
Visual
2 = 30, df = 1, p < 0.0001
Verbal
Rejection
Endorsement
Rejection
Endorsement
ATOD Incidents by Source
Environment 9%
Ozzy 38%
Others 20%
Jack 10%
Kelly 8%
Sharon 15%
ATOD Endorsement and Rejection by Source
Endorsing substance
Rejecting substance
Alcohol
Ozzy
Sharon
Tobacco
Kelly
Jack
Drug
Others
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
2 = 16.3, df = 8, p = 0.04
2 = 16.5, df = 4, p = 0.002
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
Rejection
Endorsement
Rejection
Endorsement
Rejection
Endorsement
Discussion
 High frequency of ATOD references in series
– Alcohol most common substance referenced
– More endorsements than rejections for alcohol and tobacco;
more rejections than endorsements for other drugs
 ATOD depictions
– The majority of substance use endorsements were visual
(modeling behavior)
– The majority of rejections were verbal
 The Osbournes may send “mixed messages”
(promoting and inhibiting) to viewers about using
alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
Conclusions
 Methodological limitations
– One season of one reality show on cable TV
– Study of content, not effects of exposure
– Coding of “endorsement” and “rejection” is subjective
 Implications
– Producers, viewers (and parents) should be aware of
possible “mixed messages” from reality shows
– Especially when the “reality” is a celebrity who
younger viewers admire or may perceive as role model
and want to emulate
Conclusions
 Future research
– Examine nature and extent of substance-use messages
in reality shows
– Determine effect of viewing messages that endorse
substance use
– Examine role of message source and interaction with
“real life”
Parting words from Ozzy
Ozzy:
Please don’t get drunk, or get
stoned tonight
I’m f... pissed off cause I can’t
Don’t be, don’t drink, don’t take
drugs tonight
Kelly:
No, no dad, I don’t do that
Ozzy:
If you have sex wear a condom
Depictions of Substance Use
in Reality Television:
A Content Analysis of The Osbournes: The First Season
Nicole Blair, MPH
770-488-5363
[email protected]
TM
Bonus Footage
Ozzy:
I will not have dope smoked in my house
or drugs of any time in my f...ing house
Quit smoking this sh.. cause it ain’t gonna
lead to anywhere but bad places, look at
me
Jack:
Everyone thinks I have a problem
Look, I don’t drink because, I like, crave it,
I don’t smoke pot because I crave it
I do it because I choose to do it
Ozzy:
Yet......when I started drinking and taking
pot, I wasn’t addicted......yet
As time goes on I became very addicted