Spring Break activities often can serve to increase the likelihood of a college student abusing alcohol, as is the case in this particular situation, where a student is encouraged to drink more alcohol before participating in a game while on vacation in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Patrick Ward/Corbis)

The presentation of alcohol and other drugs in the media has received both scrutiny and criticism. As a result, researchers have started to explore the types of portrayals of, in particular, alcohol use in television programs and advertisements and the influence of those portrayals on adolescents.

Television Depiction of Alcohol Use

Multiple studies indicate an abundance of alcohol use in entertainment programming. In their review of prime-time television content from 1976 to 1982, Warren Breed and his colleagues (1984) found that in the television world, alcohol was the most consumed beverage, followed by coffee, tea, soft drinks...