A three-year study of inner-city middle school students by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers found that seventh graders better able to be critically aware of advertising -- something the study terms "media resistance skills" -- were significantly less likely to drink alcohol as ninth graders.

Lead author Dr. Jennifer A. Epstein used surveys of more than 2,000 predominantly African-American adolescents from 13 inner-city junior high schools in New York City over three years.

"There are many pressures on teens to drink. One very powerful influence is advertising -- from television to billboards, it's everywhere," Epstein said in a statement. "Our study found their ability to be critically aware of advertising as well as their ability to resist peer pressure are both key skills for avoiding alcohol.

The findings point to the need for prevention programs that teach adolescents media resistance skills and peer refusal skills to reduce alcohol risk, the researchers said.

The findings are published online ahead of print in the April issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors.