Targeting norm-related beliefs about marijuana use in an adolescent population.

The integrative model of behavior prediction and priming theory were used to evaluate the effects of anti-marijuana advertisements in an experimental context. In 1 original study and 2 replications, 435 adolescents were randomly assigned to condition, and those in the experimental condition viewed 3 ads that challenged undesirable normative beliefs about marijuana use. The results showed that ad exposure had small but positive (anti-drug) effects on adolescents' considerations of the outcomes of using marijuana and their perceptions of the social normative climate surrounding marijuana use.

The Role of Distal Variables in Behavior Change: Effects of Adolescents' Risk for Marijuana Use on Intention to Use Marijuana.

This study uses an integrative model of behavioral prediction as an account of adolescents' intention to use marijuana regularly. Adolescents' risk for using marijuana regularly is examined to test the theoretical assumption that distal variables affect intention indirectly. Risk affects intention indirectly if low-risk and high-risk adolescents differ on the strength with which beliefs about marijuana are held, or if they differ on the relative importance of predictors of intention.