Abstract
The widespread belief that mass communications is a potent tool for reducing alcohol problems obscures practical, conceptual, methodological, and sociopolitical difficulties in evaluating its effectiveness and identifying controllable factors that distinguish more successful from less successful campaigns. Reviews of evaluated mass media campaigns to reduce alcohol problems have been uniformly cautious concerning the presence of positive effects and justifiably critical of the state of the art (Blane, 1976; Blane & Hewitt, 1977; Cameron, 1979; Douglas, 1976; Driessen & Byrk, 1972; Haskins, 1969; Wallack, 1980; Whitehead, 1979; Wilde, 1975). These reviews were based on relatively few studies dealing primarily with reducing drunken driving, and programs were often unclear about their objectives, the means for reaching them, and their measurement. Recent developments indicate that more evaluations are occurring and deal with a broader range of content and use stronger evaluation design.
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Hewitt, L.E., Blane, H.T. (1984). Prevention through Mass Media Communication. In: Miller, P.M., Nirenberg, T.D. (eds) Prevention of Alcohol Abuse. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2657-1_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2657-1_16
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