A recent national study found that one in three of the most popular songs from 2005 contained references to drug or alcohol use. Rap music was the biggest culprit, followed by country. But do these references actually cause substance abuse in adolescents?

"'We don't know if it really makes a difference,' said study author and University of Pittsburgh Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Brian Primack. ‘Maybe kids listen to song with alcohol, and it doesn't affect them one way or another. Maybe it affects them a great deal...'"

Primack goes on to say that the important thing is for us to talk to kids about what's right and what wrong in terms of drug and alcohol use.

Labels: influences, music

A recent study at the University of Pittsburgh found that drug and alcohol use are still popular subjects in the music industry. This latest study found that, of 279 popular songs researched, one-third of them portrayed drug and alcohol use - and most of the messages were positive.

"Previous research has shown that exposure to substance-use messages in the media is linked to actual substance use in adolescents,' [Brian] Primack says in a news release. 'This is why we need to be aware of exposures such as these, especially when they are associated with highly positive consequences and associations."

Of the substances referred to in music, alcohol was the most common, with rap and country being the genres most likely to convey positive substance use messages.

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Labels: influences, media, music