Mental 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.

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.

Gun violence involving young people is a national problem that deserves greater attention and study, a group of national experts in violence said in a paper published in American Psychologist.

After a four-year run in which most news stories falsely linked the holiday season with an increase in suicide, last year's coverage saw a turnaround, with most news stories debunking the holiday-suicide myth, according to an analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.