Premium
Evidence of the Value of the Smoking Media Literacy Framework for Middle School Students
Author(s) -
Bier Melinda C.,
Zwarun Lara,
Sherblom Stephen A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12425
Subject(s) - media literacy , literacy , scale (ratio) , psychology , health literacy , smoking prevention , perception , developmental psychology , public health , medicine , environmental health , demography , social psychology , pedagogy , sociology , geography , political science , nursing , health care , cartography , neuroscience , law
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Susceptibility to future smoking, positive beliefs about smoking, and perceptions of antismoking norms are all factors that are associated with future smoking. In previous research, smoking media literacy (SML) has been associated with these variables, even when controlling for other known risk factors for smoking. However, these studies were performed with older teenagers, often in high school, not younger teens at a crucial developmental point with respect to the decision to begin smoking. METHODS This study uses survey data collected from 656 American public middle school students representing multiple zip codes, schools, and school districts. RESULTS Smoking media literacy levels for middle school students were similar to those of high school students in earlier studies. Higher SML levels were associated with lower susceptibility to future smoking and predicted susceptibility to smoke when controlling for other risk factors. This suggests that the same relationships found with teenagers may exist with middle school students. CONCLUSIONS Although follow‐up studies using larger and more controlled administrations of the SML scale are warranted, this study suggests the utility of the SML framework and scale in the development and investigation of media literacy as a prevention strategy in students this age.