Movies: The Latest Excuse For European Youths to Get Drunk

Unemployment is bad, but things like What's Your Number are apparently worse: "In the overall (all countries) adjusted model, adolescents with higher exposure to alcohol use in movies were significantly more likely to have engaged in binge drinking, even after controlling for age, gender, family affluence, school performance, television screen time, sensation seeking and rebelliousness, and frequency of drinking of peers, parents, and siblings." The most troubling part of this study might be its definition of binge drinking as five or more drinks in one sitting, which I otherwise tend to refer to as "lunch." [Pediatrics (PDF) via Deadline]



Comments

  • Patrick Hallstein / McEvoy-Halston says:

    "Binge drinking" is I think about to be thundered over by its predecessor, "heavy drinking." Thanks for the concerned penciling and surveying, but hard times call for hard drinking.

  • MartiniShark says:

    These results would be undermined by the follow up study showing a corelation between binge drinking and choosing films with alcoholic themes.

  • The Winchester says:

    Isn't the legal drinking age in some European countries 14? Shouldn't THAT be factored into this equation maybe?

    • S.T. VanAirsdale says:

      Indeed! Or maybe that part where they sell alcohol in movie theaters.

      • j'accuse! says:

        Stu...you should come up to sunny Seattle. We have a theater under the El Gaucho steakhouse that serves beverages. You can enjoy a nice steak dinner upstairs, then head downstairs and watch The Artist whilst sipping on a Vesper Martini. It's spectacular.

        • S.T. VanAirsdale says:

          Thanks for this! Honestly, I tend to just grab a 40 from the bodega and sneak it into the multiplex. The paper bag stops crinkling and crackling so much after a few swigs during the commercials. And I don't even have to travel to Seattle!