Health Communication最新文献

The goal of this study is to better understand the role of social relationships and traditional gender norms in Latina health. Utilizing Hawkley and Cacioppo's theoretical model of loneliness and health as a framework, loneliness is proposed as a key component in the relationship between the Latina gender norm of marianismo and health. Participants were 178 female adults who identified as Latina (N = 97) or non-Latina White (N = 81), ranging in age from 19-88, who completed measures of loneliness, marianismo, depression, overall health, and health practices. Results indicate that being Latina was associated with family pillar marianismo, which includes characteristics centered on women's roles as the core of the family, that was associated with lower loneliness, and lower loneliness was subsequently associated with better overall health, lower depression, and beneficial health practices. However, being Latina had no association with silencing self to maintain harmony marianismo, that in turn had no association with loneliness, or health outcomes. These results suggest that elements of marianismo can play a protective role in Latina health and well-being, particularly when Latinas endorse the positive aspects of the gender norm that place women at the center of their families. Results also help explain the Latino health paradox by providing more specificity in the links between Latina ethnicity and positive health outcomes.

Chronic pain, pain persisting longer than six months, afflicts 20% of the U.S. population and is the leading cause of disability. To manage pain, many chronic pain patients (CPPs) and healthcare providers turn to opioids, prescription medications that block pain signals and offer relief. However, in light of the U.S.' ongoing opioid epidemic, CPPs without a history of opioid use disorder (OUD) are facing increased stigma when seeking opioid medication. Further, many have been forced to taper their therapeutic dose due to updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescribing guidelines in 2016 and 2022, with a range of (adverse) outcomes. Though research has explored experiences of chronic pain and OUD independently, few studies have explored how media coverage of the opioid epidemic has shaped representations, and resulting stereotypes, of CPPs. Guided by framing theory, this content analysis examines sources' characterization of CPPs amidst a decade of U.S. news coverage of the opioid epidemic (N = 492). Findings identify four dominant news frames, including two novel frames termed culpability and strategy, and elements (i.e., characters, significant events) that comprise these frames. When discussed, CPPs were ascribed the identity of a drug-seeking addict 82% of the time. Collectively, this study provides insight as to how news media coverage of the opioid epidemic influence(d) public perceptions of chronic pain (patients). Findings offer theoretical and practical implications for media outlets, policymakers, CPPs and healthcare providers, as well as highlighting how use of opioids for pain management does not equate to abuse of opioids.

Reddit has provided rich data on mental health discourse. The present study uses 40,335 online posts from Reddit communities to investigate how language can contribute to the understanding of PTSD and C-PTSD. The results showed distinct language patterns in the use of first-person pronouns, cognitive processing, and emotion words, suggesting that they are separate disorders with different effects on survivors. Further, while some social media studies have differentiated submissions and comments, few have investigated the language changes between these contexts. Post-hoc results showed a clear distinction between two contexts across several linguistic markers. Discussion and future directions are explored.

In the context of climate change communication, this study explores the process through which exposure to media messages about a risk leads to recommended behavioral intentions. We propose a model of this process based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) framework. Our model analyzes how risk perception, negative emotion, and efficacy beliefs mediate and moderate the effects of media messages on people's intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. A national survey among 1,000 adults in South Korea was analyzed, and the fitting of PROCESS Models 4 and 15 yielded four main findings. First, media exposure was directly and positively related to risk perception, negative emotion, and pro-environmental behavioral intention. However, the significant relation between media exposure and behavioral intention was partly conditional upon efficacy beliefs. Second, risk perception and negative emotion were also significantly related to behavioral intention conditional upon efficacy beliefs. Third, efficacy beliefs significantly moderated the relation between risk perception and behavioral intention, but not between negative emotion and behavioral intention. Fourth, efficacy beliefs served as a moderator for the indirect effect of media exposure on behavioral intention via risk perception and negative emotion.

Although increasingly popular, theoretical frameworks describing complex and multidimensional cancer information behaviors remain limited. In response, this study developed a context-specific model by integrating cancer worry into the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) to explain individuals' active and passive information behaviors. An online survey conducted in Hong Kong (N = 593) and the United States (N = 625) revealed that STOPS factors play different roles in explaining active and passive information behaviors, with the referent criterion and situation motivation being the dominant factors of active and passive information behaviors, respectively. Cancer worry partly mediated the relationship between such behaviors and situational motivation. While the effect of STOPS factors can be generally replicated across Hong Kong and U.S. contexts, the effects of cancer worry cannot. Altogether, our study has answered the call for research on the boundary conditions of STOPS and a more systematic understanding of cancer information behaviors.

Social media use for risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable concerns about an overabundance of information, particularly misinformation. However, how exposure to COVID-19 information on social media can lead to subsequent misinformation sharing during the pandemic has received little research attention. This study adopted the social amplification of risk framework to delineate how exposure to COVID-19 vaccine information on social media can be associated with individuals' misinformation sharing through heuristic information processing. The role of social media trust was also examined. Results from an online survey (N = 1488) of Chinese Internet users revealed that exposure to COVID-19 vaccine information on social media was associated with misinformation sharing, mediated by both affect heuristics (i.e., negative affect toward the COVID-19 pandemic in general) and availability heuristics (i.e., perceived misinformation availability). Importantly, both high and low levels of trust in social media strengthened the mediating associations. While a low level of trust strengthened the association between exposure to COVID-19 vaccine information on social media and the affect heuristics, a high level of trust strengthened its association with the availability heuristics, both of which were associated with misinformation sharing. Our findings suggest that heuristic information processing is essential in amplifying the spread of misinformation after exposure to risk information on social media. It is also suggested that individuals should maintain a middle level of trust in social media, being open while critical of risk information on social media.

Communication is an integral component in palliative care. A number of studies have used conversation analysis (CA) to examine communication between healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients/companions in palliative care. To the best of our knowledge, however, no work has been done to synthesize these studies. Thus, the review aimed to synthesize these conversation analytic studies in the setting of palliative care. The review included peer-reviewed studies that focused on communication between HCPs and patients/companions and that were published in English before September 10 2022. The database and manual search produced 16 eligible studies. The thematic analysis generated five themes: (1) promoting patient agency and autonomy; (2) practices for gathering pain-related information and navigating pain concerns (practices for gathering pain-related information and practices for navigating patients' pain concerns); (3) initiating and managing end-of-life discussions; (4) facilitating shared decision making in palliative care; and (5) navigating sensitive topics and uncertainty in prognostic talk. The review highlighted the potential of CA for research in palliative care and had implications for communication practice.

The past decades have seen growing interest and application of interventions targeting the change of multiple behaviors at once. We advance this work by using the diffusion of innovations theory (DOI) to consider constellations of behaviors as innovation packages: multiple innovations that are logically related, interdependent in their use or effects, and often promoted as a set (Rogers, 2003). In addition, we embraced DOI's focus on behavioral decisions as a continual process that can include adoption and discontinuance over time, especially as new innovations (e.g., COVID-19 vaccine) appear. To that end, we conducted a latent transition analysis of COVID-19 mitigation behaviors (N = 697; 97% received a COVID-19 vaccine) across three time points in the pandemic: initial outbreak; a secondary, record-breaking rise in cases; and after the CDC recommended that fully vaccinated adults could discontinue wearing masks. This analysis allowed us to identify latent classes based on shared behavioral patterns and transitions between classes over time. The results showed evidence of three possible packages: (a) a package of traditional, symptom-management behaviors (covering coughs and sneezes, staying home if ill, and seeking medical care), (b) a package of just-novel COVID-19 behaviors (wearing masks, keeping six feet apart, and avoiding mass gatherings), and (c) a package of all COVID-19 mitigation behaviors. Movement between classes exemplified adoption and discontinuance of different packages, as well as widespread discontinuance with the replacement innovation: COVID-19 vaccines. Additional analyses showed that increases in hope were associated with sustained and delayed adoption; decreases in social approval were associated with discontinuance. Future directions in theorizing around innovation packages are discussed.

With the rapid development of e-health and telemedicine, previous studies have explored the relationship between physician-patient communication and patient satisfaction; however, there is a paucity of research on the influence of the characteristics of patient communication on the characteristics of physician feedback. Based on the communication accommodation theory, as well as the computer-mediated communication theory and media richness theory, this study aimed to explore how characteristics of patient communication influence characteristics of physician feedback in online health communities. We employed a crawler software to download the communication data between 1652 physicians and 105,325 patients from the Good Doctor platform, the biggest online health community in China. We built an empirical model using this data and employed a multilevel model to test our hypotheses using Stata and Python software. The results indicate that the amount of patients' rendered information positively influences the physicians' text (α = 0.123, t = 33.147, P < .001) and voice feedback (β = 0.201, t = 40.011, P < .001). Patients' hope for help signals and the provision of their electronic health records weaken the effect of the amount of patients' rendered information on physicians' text feedback (α = -0.040, t = -24.857, P < .001; α = -0.048, t = -15.784, P < .001), whereas, it strengthened the effect of the amount of patients' rendered information on physicians' voice feedback (β = 0.033, t = 14.789, P < .001; β = 0.017, t = 4.208, P < .001). Moreover, the occurrence of high-privacy diseases strengthened the effect of the amount of patients' presented information on physicians' text and voice feedback (α = 0.023, t = 4.870, P < .001; β = 0.028, t = 4.282, P < .001). This research contributes to the development of computer-mediated communication theories and sheds light on service delivery in the online health community.

Health information-seeking behavior can be understood as an active and purposeful acquisition of information from selected information sources. It supports patients to cope with medical and health-related uncertainties and enables them to engage in informed decision-making. To obtain health information, patients can turn to a variety of sources, such as going to a physician, exchanging information with their family, or using different Internet sources. Research showed that patients typically use multiple sources to meet their health-related information needs. To attain a holistic and differentiated picture of patients' actual health information behavior, the current study draws on the repertoire approach. We conducted an online survey with 1,105 implant patients and performed a cluster analysis to explore their health information repertoires. To gain a deeper understanding of the practical meaning behind the repertoires, we also considered health-related information motives and socio-structural factors, as well as the implant type (dental, orthopedic, cochlear), to characterize the repertoires. The study revealed seven different health information repertoires of implant patients, varying in their combination of multiple sources used. In addition, group comparisons showed that the repertoires differ significantly regarding socio-structural factors, such as gender, age, and education, as well as implant type. Furthermore, information motives contribute significantly to the differentiation of the repertoires. The results are of high theoretical potential for communication science as well as practical use for strategic health communication.