Celebrities with problems are nothing new

Lately, it seems many stars are making headlines because of their personal problems -- not their talent.

Teen star Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant.

Her sister, Britney, is a hot mess.

And actors Heath Ledger and Brad Renfro recently died tragically young.

It can be disappointing to see your favorite star battling big problems. Kids idolize stars because their glamorous lives seem perfect.

"It appeals to anyone's core desire for things going their way," says pediatric psychologist Jonathan Pochyly with Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Of course, things don't always go a star's way. Celebrities serve jail time, get photographed in embarrassing situations and have immature outbursts.

Surprisingly, this actually isn't new. Actors have struggled with personal problems for decades, said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York.

The difference is that news media in the past didn't have knowledge of most scandals. During the 1940s and 1950s, for example, Thompson said movie studios went to great lengths to keep their stars' screw-ups out of the headlines.

"They made up biographies of their stars," Thompson said. "They were not squeamish about paying off authorities."

Now it's hard to keep stars out of the news, and there are plenty of news agencies ready to report. "There is a flood of places where this can be reported," Thompson said.

While some critics worry it's bad for kids to see stars acting out, Thompson said it's unlikely kids will try to imitate a celeb's bad behavior.

"I don't know of any girl little now who says, 'I want to use Britney as a role model,' " Thompson said.