Health Communication最新文献

Despite the agreement on the importance of two-way communication during governmental response to pandemics, few studies provided empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of such communication strategy in times of a public health crisis. Integrating the concept of two-way symmetrical communication and the Trust, Confidence, and Cooperation model (the TCC model), this study investigates how strategic communication practices, in particular two-way symmetrical communication, is related to public's perceived trust and confidence in governments (i.e., CDC in this study), and how these perceptions may affect decisions to comply with the preventive behaviors (i.e., face covering in this study), while taking the moderating role of knowledge into consideration. An online survey was conducted with 502 participants who were living in the United States in early April 2020. The findings showed that two-way symmetrical communication may increase public trust and confidence in governments, and improve individuals' knowledge about the pandemic, which all subsequently leads to compliance with recommended behaviors. The results contribute to the theoretical understanding of pandemic communication and provide implications for practitioners in pandemic management, suggesting that health institutions should adopt two-way symmetrical communication practices in respond to public health emergencies.

This study reports on the development and pilot testing of an emotional support provision training intervention for interpersonal support providers to those with chronic illnesses. Using findings from a needs assessment in combination with existing theory and research, we created a training framework consisting of verbal person-centered message design, empathic listening, and communicated perspective-taking. Then, we recruited 282 individuals to participate in a pre-training questionnaire, the online training module, a post-training questionnaire, and a two-week post-training questionnaire. Outcome variables included emotional support knowledge, efficacy, and intentions, as well as general support efficacy, response efficacy, and quality. Repeated measures MANCOVA revealed significant increases from T1 to T2 for all variables of interest. These increases were sustained at T3 for emotional support knowledge and efficacy, and support provision response efficacy. Participants rated the training favorably and provided helpful suggestions for improvement. This study answers the call for more theoretically-grounded support interventions that not only assess theory in real-world settings, but also help people better their supportive communication skills.

News coverage of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine grew rapidly in China in 2016 when the vaccine was approved. Drawing upon framing theory, the present study analyzed the content of 491 Chinese newspaper reports on the HPV vaccine published between June 2000 and December 2018 to investigate what and how information and valence about the vaccine was relayed to the public. The results indicated that, while the Chinese media failed to provide comprehensive and accurate information about HPV and the HPV vaccine, they showed a positive evaluation of the HPV vaccine demand and market. In addition, there was a decline in negative coverage after the vaccine was approved. This study extended the literature on HPV vaccine coverage by combining issue-specific framing and valence framing, considering the Chinese-specific vaccine market for presentation and the value of such products, which is rare in previous studies. Practical implications of the findings for health promotion were also discussed.

Many people like to share their physical activity (PA) experiences on social network sites (SNSs). Drawing on social cognitive theory, we examined in two studies whether observing others' workouts on SNSs could improve the observer's PA via the mediation of workout self-efficacy. In study 1, a two-wave longitudinal online survey of 461 participants, exposure to SNS workout posts was positively associated with PA through workout self-efficacy. In study 2, an online experimental study with 124 participants, manipulating perceived similarity revealed that it moderates between exposure to SNS workout posts and workout self-efficacy. Moreover, moderation of the indirect effect between exposure to SNS workout posts and PA via workout self-efficacy was supported. These findings reveal the mechanisms and boundary conditions of social media exposure improving workout self-efficacy and promoting PA.

This study investigated the experiences of communication officials at local health departments (LHD) in the US Midwest regarding the correction of health misinformation on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through interviews with communication officials, this study examined how and why they corrected health misinformation, the challenges they encountered during the correction process, and the importance of having fact-checkers within LHDs. The analysis of the data revealed four major themes: factors influencing misinformation correction on Facebook, perceived effectiveness of health misinformation correction, the intersection of the First Amendment and health misinformation, and the role of fact-checking in LHDs. The LHD communication officials often faced conflicts and public rebuttals when directly correcting misinformation leading them to adopt the strategy of addressing misinformation through future posts instead of direct correction. These findings provide significant insights for communication officials to identify and correct health misinformation and emphasize the need for healthcare organizations to provide essential resources to information and communication professionals during times of crises.

The post-positivist articulation of the theory of communicative disenfranchisement (TCD) asserts that people subjected to disenfranchising talk (DT; talk that discredits, silences, and stereotypes) experience proximal consequences (PCs; reduced agency, perceived credibility, and ability to exercise rights and privileges) and make negative inferences about others' future interactional goals (negative goal inferences [NGIs]). Through the mediators of PCs and NGIs, DT is theorized to lead to more distal health and well-being outcomes. This article developed measures of DT, PCs, and NGIs to test the TCD's post-positivist model in the context of chronic pain. Items were developed and refined in a pilot study. Then, in two validation studies, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and health and well-being outcomes were assessed. Findings offer initial empirical support for the reliability and convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of the DT, PCs, and NGIs measures, as well as the model proposed in the post-positivist articulation of the TCD.

The family environment is essential but underused for promoting sexual and reproductive health protective behaviors (SHPB). However, previous literature had no consistent findings regarding how families can efficiently provide sex education and what aspects of family communication may facilitate SHPB. Based on family communication patterns theory (FCPT) and new research that segments family conformity orientation into four sub-dimensions (i.e., respecting parental authority, experiencing parental control, adopting parents' values, and questioning parents' beliefs), we explored the roles that family communication patterns (FCP) and parents' (direct and indirect) sexual communication play in influencing adult daughters' intentions to engage in SHPB. Using survey data from 234 female participants, path analysis suggested that daughters' SHPB intentions were associated with more direct and indirect sexual communication, higher conversation orientation, higher parental control, and less adoption of parental values. Also, parents' direct sexual communication mediated the impact of conversation orientation on SHPB intentions. Additionally, parents' indirect sexual communication mediated the path from parental value adoption to SHPB intentions, mitigating the negative direct impact of parental value adoption. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the salience of issues related to social justice, mental health, and health equity. During this time, the media have been instrumental in amplifying social movements but also in spreading mis/disinformation, violence, and hatred. Among communities who have been affected heavily during this time are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) young adults who have a mental illness/significant mental health concerns. As frequent engagers and creators of media, their perspectives are critical to informing what aspects of the media should be leveraged to promote the health, well-being, and safety of people who have been marginalized. Thus, our study asks: How do BIPOC young adults (in the United States) who have a behavioral health diagnosis or significant mental health concerns perceive the media? Guided by intersectionality and grounded theory, we conducted in-depth interviews with 20 participants. The results reveal participants' 1) deep recognition of how the media uphold oppressive structures and 2) identification of ways that people have used and can use the media to fight those same structures. Researchers and media leaders should listen to, center the experiences of, collaborate with, and follow the lead of people who have been marginalized. This is critical to transforming the media such that they promote the well-being of all people.

In recent years, short-form social media videos have emerged as an important source of health-related advice. In this study, we investigate whether experts or ordinary users in such videos are more effective in debunking the common misperception that talking about suicide should be avoided. We also explore a new trend on TikTok and other platforms, in which users attempt to back up their arguments by displaying scientific articles in the background of their videos. To test the effect of source type (expert vs. ordinary user) and scientific references (present or absent), we conducted a 2 × 2 between-subject plus control group experiment (n = 956). In each condition, participants were shown a TikTok video that was approximately 30 seconds long. Our findings show that in all four treatment groups, participants reduced their misperceptions on the topic. The expert was rated as being more authoritative on the topic compared to the ordinary user. However, the expert was also rated as being less credible compared to the ordinary user. The inclusion of a scientific reference did not make a difference. Thus, both experts and ordinary users may be similarly persuasive in a short-form video environment.