The association between adolescents' receiver characteristics and exposure to the alcohol warning label

Abstract

The association between receiver characteristics and awareness of, exposure to, memory for, and beliefs about the alcohol warning label were examined. The receiver characteristics studied were sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, school grades, religious service attendance, alcohol use, friends' alcohol use, drinking from the alcohol container, and television viewing. Independent cross-sectional samples of 12th-grade students (n=6,391) completed a questionnaire before and after the federally mandated warning appeared on alcohol beverage containers. Many of the receiver characteristics were significantly associated with the warning measures. There was not much evidence indicating that receiver characteristics moderated the association between the appearance of the warning and warning awareness, exposure, memory, or beliefs. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.