Health

A study finds that early drug use strongly predicts substance abuse only if it’s followed by continuing drug use. Early experimentation with alcohol or marijuana isn't necessarily a risk factor for addiction.

A new study of cigarette warning labels finds that “emotional” images proposed by the government to complement text warnings are more believable and provide greater motivation to quit smoking than equally emotional but irrelevant images or text warnings alone.

The amount of gun violence in top-grossing PG-13 movies has continued to exceed the gun violence in the biggest box-office R-rated films, according to an APPC analysis published in Pediatrics. PG-13 movies also usually feature gun violence without showing consequences such as blood and suffering, researchers said.

Nearly half of the news stories over last year’s holiday season that linked the holidays and suicide perpetuated the myth that there's an increase in suicide from Thanksgiving through January, according to a new analysis.

In an issue brief, part of a new series, Annenberg Public Policy Center research director Dan Romer reviews the evidence on the effectiveness of pictorial warning labels on cigarette packs.

The journal Media and Communication has published a special issue on "Adolescents in the Digital Age: Effects on Health and Development," edited by APPC research director Dan Romer.