Testing Alternative Explanations for Exposure Effects in Media Campaigns: The Case of a Community-Based, In-School Media Drug Prevention Project

In: Communication research, Volume 29, Issue 4, p. 367-389

Abstract

This study examines longitudinal evidence for the impact of exposure to an in-school media campaign on adolescent substance use attitudes and behaviors, using data from four middle schools in two school districts. Amount of exposure to the campaign directly impacted perceptions that marijuana use was inconsistent with personal aspirations and intentions to use marijuana and appeared to reduce maturational decay in those attitudes. Path analyses suggested effects on behavior change, consistent with the theory of reasoned action, were via effects on intention and exposure effects on intention were via effects on aspirations. Reverse causation was tested and rejected, as were possible moderation models that might also qualify exposure effects. Analyses of a foil recognition measure using a treatment and control population suggested that response set artifacts were nominal in size and that response bias was slight and could be statistically controlled.