Citation

Bleakley A, Ellithorpe ME, Prince L, Hennessy M, Khurana A, Jamieson PE, Weitz I. J. Child. Media 2018; 12(4): 478-495.

Affiliation

Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 202 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; ilana.weitz@appc.upenn.edu, 215.746.0303.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17482798.2018.1487310

PMID

30643541

PMCID

PMC6329382

Abstract

Adolescents spend many hours per day watching television, and there are racial differences in time spent watching television and in show preferences. Prior research suggests there are also differential associations in how exposure to media content affects adolescent behavior. This study examines the demographic representation of main characters and health risk behaviors (i.e., sex, alcohol use, violence, bullying, and their combinations) portrayed in television content popular with Black and non-Black adolescents. A content analysis of television show characters (n=377) from the 2014-15 season was conducted on shows popular with 14-17 year old adolescent audiences in the United States. Group popularity was determined by Nielsen ratings segmented by Black and non-Black (primarily White) adolescents.

RESULTS suggest that character representation varies by whether shows were popular with Blacks or others, and that risk portrayals are common in all popular content with few group differences. Implications for adolescent behavior are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescents; alcohol; content analysis; race differences; risk behavior; sex; television; violence