[Effects of the median on health cognitions of students]

Theories about health-related behavior deal with subjective norms and beliefs in the susceptibility to specific diseases as determinants of the link between attitudes and behavior. Health cognitions are seen as influenced by the salience of the targets (see the availability heuristic: Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). This study analyzed the effects of mass media reports on health cognitions of young people. Nine newspaper articles were created, one for each of three substances and the different trends in consumption ("More and more/A lot of/Some ... young people take heroin/drink alcohol/smoke cigarettes"). The articles were read by 191 pupils. Results show that the reading preference and the perceived importance of the substances were dominated by the themes of the articles and not by the trends in consumption. The acceptance of the consumption of illegal drugs increased after the pupils had read articles about heroin. Further, an overestimation of the base rates of consumption was observed, especially in pupils who smoked. Results are discussed with regard to the importance of integrating the impact of mass media into current models of health-related intentions.