Pub Date : 2024-06-03Epub Date: 2024-05-22DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2354370
Emmanuel Maduneme
Climate change anxiety among young people of college age has become a prevalent topic, with debate on whether climate change anxiety is maladaptive or can motivate climate change action. Using a cross-sectional survey of 440 college students, the study investigated the relationships between college students' climate anxiety, climate change media exposure, efficacy beliefs, and pro-environmental intentions. The findings revealed among other things, that climate anxiety had a significant curvilinear relationship with pro-environmental intentions with moderate anxiety predicting positive intentions and higher levels of anxiety were associated with negative intentions. Media exposure also positively predicted increased climate anxiety. Implications for climate change mitigation are discussed.
{"title":"Some Slice of Climate Anxiety … Is Good: A Cross-Sectional Survey Exploring the Relationship Between College Students Media Exposure and Perceptions About Climate Change.","authors":"Emmanuel Maduneme","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2354370","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2354370","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate change anxiety among young people of college age has become a prevalent topic, with debate on whether climate change anxiety is maladaptive or can motivate climate change action. Using a cross-sectional survey of 440 college students, the study investigated the relationships between college students' climate anxiety, climate change media exposure, efficacy beliefs, and pro-environmental intentions. The findings revealed among other things, that climate anxiety had a significant curvilinear relationship with pro-environmental intentions with moderate anxiety predicting positive intentions and higher levels of anxiety were associated with negative intentions. Media exposure also positively predicted increased climate anxiety. Implications for climate change mitigation are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141075832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03Epub Date: 2024-05-26DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2357571
Yotam Ophir, Dror Walter, Patrick E Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Differential media treatment of climate change, including conservative media's tendency to reject the anthropogenic climate change scientific consensus, has reinforced polarized perceptions of climate change. Studies have found differences in coverage patterns and in perceptions among those relying more heavily on conservative rather than liberal or moderate media. This scholarship has been limited by narrow measurements of media exposure, climate-related outcomes, and the mechanism of effects. We analyzed nationally representative US data (N = 1,181) using measures that included not only reported use of mainstream print, cable, and social media captured in past research, but also science programming, as well as far-right, alternative-health, and Christian media. On average, participants relied more heavily on centrist and liberal media, followed by Fox News and social media. The results corroborate findings associating exposure to centrist media with pro-climate attitudes, and conservative media, including Fox News with the opposite views. Use of far-right outlets was associated with the lowest levels of belief in anthropogenic climate change, perceptions of personal threat, and support for climate-friendly policy. Reliance on science media was associated with pro-climate views. Most associations were mediated via perceptions of science and scientists (using the Factors Associated with Self-Presentation of Science, FASS scale).
{"title":"The Politicization of Climate Science: Media Consumption, Perceptions of Science and Scientists, and Support for Policy.","authors":"Yotam Ophir, Dror Walter, Patrick E Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Jamieson","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2357571","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2357571","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Differential media treatment of climate change, including conservative media's tendency to reject the anthropogenic climate change scientific consensus, has reinforced polarized perceptions of climate change. Studies have found differences in coverage patterns and in perceptions among those relying more heavily on conservative rather than liberal or moderate media. This scholarship has been limited by narrow measurements of media exposure, climate-related outcomes, and the mechanism of effects. We analyzed nationally representative US data (<i>N</i> = 1,181) using measures that included not only reported use of mainstream print, cable, and social media captured in past research, but also science programming, as well as far-right, alternative-health, and Christian media. On average, participants relied more heavily on centrist and liberal media, followed by Fox News and social media. The results corroborate findings associating exposure to centrist media with pro-climate attitudes, and conservative media, including Fox News with the opposite views. Use of far-right outlets was associated with the lowest levels of belief in anthropogenic climate change, perceptions of personal threat, and support for climate-friendly policy. Reliance on science media was associated with pro-climate views. Most associations were mediated via perceptions of science and scientists (using the Factors Associated with Self-Presentation of Science, FASS scale).</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141154941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03Epub Date: 2024-05-29DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2360023
Daniel M Walker, Christine M Swoboda, Andrew N Garman, Matthew J DePUCCIO, Elizabeth Mayers, Anneliese Sinclair, Ann Scheck McALEARNEY
Climate change is currently and will continue impacting human health, however, beliefs about the level of threat vary by demographics, region, and ideology. The purpose of this study was to assess factors related to climate change and health beliefs using cross-sectional data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Data from 5,075 respondents in the 2022 iteration of HINTS was used for this study. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate demographic differences among those who believe climate change will harm health a lot compared to some, a little, or not at all. Generalized ordinal logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between the belief that climate change will harm health and independent variables regarding trust in scientists, health recommendations from experts, and demographic characteristics. Female, Black, Hispanic, and college graduate respondents had higher odds and people in the Southern U.S. those aged 35-49, 50-64, and 75years or older had significantly lower odds of believing climate change would harm their health. Those who trust information about cancer from scientists and those that believe health recommendations from experts conflict or change had higher odds of believing climate change would harm health. Our analysis highlights factors that impact climate change and health beliefs, which may provide targets for tailoring public health messages to address this issue.
{"title":"Does Climate Change Affect Health? Beliefs from the Health Information National Trends Survey.","authors":"Daniel M Walker, Christine M Swoboda, Andrew N Garman, Matthew J DePUCCIO, Elizabeth Mayers, Anneliese Sinclair, Ann Scheck McALEARNEY","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2360023","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2360023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate change is currently and will continue impacting human health, however, beliefs about the level of threat vary by demographics, region, and ideology. The purpose of this study was to assess factors related to climate change and health beliefs using cross-sectional data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Data from 5,075 respondents in the 2022 iteration of HINTS was used for this study. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate demographic differences among those who believe climate change will harm health a lot compared to some, a little, or not at all. Generalized ordinal logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between the belief that climate change will harm health and independent variables regarding trust in scientists, health recommendations from experts, and demographic characteristics. Female, Black, Hispanic, and college graduate respondents had higher odds and people in the Southern U.S. those aged 35-49, 50-64, and 75years or older had significantly lower odds of believing climate change would harm their health. Those who trust information about cancer from scientists and those that believe health recommendations from experts conflict or change had higher odds of believing climate change would harm health. Our analysis highlights factors that impact climate change and health beliefs, which may provide targets for tailoring public health messages to address this issue.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141161930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2361566
Bruce Y Lee, Brian Pavilonis, Danielle C John, Jessie Heneghan, Sarah M Bartsch, Ilias Kavouras
Society is at an inflection point-both in terms of climate change and the amount of data and computational resources currently available. Climate change has been a catastrophe in slow motion with relationships between human activity, climate change, and the resulting effects forming a complex system. However, to date, there has been a general lack of urgent responses from leaders and the general public, despite urgent warnings from the scientific community about the consequences of climate change and what can be done to mitigate it. Further, misinformation and disinformation about climate change abound. A major problem is that there has not been enough focus on communication in the climate change field. Since communication itself involves complex systems (e.g. information users, information itself, communications channels), there is a need for more systems approaches to communication about climate change. Utilizing systems approaches to really understand and anticipate how information may be distributed and received before communication has even occurred and adjust accordingly can lead to more proactive precision climate change communication. The time has come to identify and develop more effective, tailored, and precise communication for climate change.
{"title":"The Need to Focus More on Climate Change Communication and Incorporate More Systems Approaches.","authors":"Bruce Y Lee, Brian Pavilonis, Danielle C John, Jessie Heneghan, Sarah M Bartsch, Ilias Kavouras","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2361566","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2361566","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Society is at an inflection point-both in terms of climate change and the amount of data and computational resources currently available. Climate change has been a catastrophe in slow motion with relationships between human activity, climate change, and the resulting effects forming a complex system. However, to date, there has been a general lack of urgent responses from leaders and the general public, despite urgent warnings from the scientific community about the consequences of climate change and what can be done to mitigate it. Further, misinformation and disinformation about climate change abound. A major problem is that there has not been enough focus on communication in the climate change field. Since communication itself involves complex systems (e.g. information users, information itself, communications channels), there is a need for more systems approaches to communication about climate change. Utilizing systems approaches to really understand and anticipate how information may be distributed and received before communication has even occurred and adjust accordingly can lead to more proactive precision climate change communication. The time has come to identify and develop more effective, tailored, and precise communication for climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141237684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03Epub Date: 2024-06-07DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2360617
Shawn Patterson, Patrick E Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Understanding the factors associated with acceptance of climate action is central in designing effective climate change communication strategies. An exploratory factor analysis of 12 science-consistent beliefs about the existence, causes, and consequences of climate change reveals three underlying factors: climate change [a] is real and human caused, [b] has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, and [c] negatively affects public health. In the presence of demographic, ideological, and party controls, this health factor significantly predicts a 3-6 percentage point increase in respondents' [a] willingness to advocate for climate change; [b] reported personal pro-climate behaviors; and [c] support for government policies addressing climate change. These results are robust when controlling for respondents' underlying belief in the existence and causes of climate change, respondent worry, self-efficacy, and respondent belief that extreme weather events and heat waves are increasing. These findings suggest ways to bolster public support for climate policies that may otherwise be at risk.
{"title":"Science-Consistent Climate Health Beliefs As Predictors of Climate Behaviors and Support for <i>Inflation Reduction Act</i> Provisions and a Carbon Emissions Tax.","authors":"Shawn Patterson, Patrick E Jamieson, Kathleen Hall Jamieson","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2360617","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2360617","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding the factors associated with acceptance of climate action is central in designing effective climate change communication strategies. An exploratory factor analysis of 12 science-consistent beliefs about the existence, causes, and consequences of climate change reveals three underlying factors: climate change [a] is real and human caused, [b] has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, and [c] negatively affects public health. In the presence of demographic, ideological, and party controls, this health factor significantly predicts a 3-6 percentage point increase in respondents' [a] willingness to advocate for climate change; [b] reported personal pro-climate behaviors; and [c] support for government policies addressing climate change. These results are robust when controlling for respondents' underlying belief in the existence and causes of climate change, respondent worry, self-efficacy, and respondent belief that extreme weather events and heat waves are increasing. These findings suggest ways to bolster public support for climate policies that may otherwise be at risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141283916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-03Epub Date: 2024-05-27DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2360021
Muhammad Ittefaq
The impacts of climate change on human health are a critical public health concern, with previous studies highlighting its clear effects on well-being. Understanding how state and territorial health agencies (STHAs) are addressing these emerging risks is important. This study conducted 26 in-depth interviews across the U.S. to explore the perceptions and communication strategies of STHA officials regarding climate change's impact on human health. Additionally, the study sought to identify the primary challenges faced by these officials to effectively communicate the impacts. Thematic analysis of the data revealed three major themes: community building and coalitions, climate denialism on social media, and misinformation about climate change and its effects on human health. These findings offer valuable insights for climate change and public health communication. The importance of the STHAs' development of technical and informational capacity to effectively communicate climate-related risks and threats is emphasized.
{"title":"Climate Communication, Public Health, and Social Media: Examining the Role of Health Agencies in Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health.","authors":"Muhammad Ittefaq","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2360021","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2360021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The impacts of climate change on human health are a critical public health concern, with previous studies highlighting its clear effects on well-being. Understanding how state and territorial health agencies (STHAs) are addressing these emerging risks is important. This study conducted 26 in-depth interviews across the U.S. to explore the perceptions and communication strategies of STHA officials regarding climate change's impact on human health. Additionally, the study sought to identify the primary challenges faced by these officials to effectively communicate the impacts. Thematic analysis of the data revealed three major themes: community building and coalitions, climate denialism on social media, and misinformation about climate change and its effects on human health. These findings offer valuable insights for climate change and public health communication. The importance of the STHAs' development of technical and informational capacity to effectively communicate climate-related risks and threats is emphasized.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141154940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-02Epub Date: 2024-05-24DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2358141
Samuel R Mendez, Elaine O Nsoesie, Eirliani Abdul Rahman, Olivia Biggs, Marcus Weinman
This article uses the theoretical framework of the networked public to understand the dynamics of online harassment of public health professionals. Coauthors draw on their experiences with health communication on social media, in a local public health department, and in news media to illustrate the utility of this framework. Their stories also highlight the need to build a more proactive approach to online harassment in public health. The coauthors highlight recommendations that health communicators can take in the face of online harassment. We also call for a more coordinated community effort to create supportive environments for online health communication, including increased funding of local health departments and increased regulation of social media companies.
{"title":"From Theory to Practice: Mitigating the Harm of Online Harassment in Public Health.","authors":"Samuel R Mendez, Elaine O Nsoesie, Eirliani Abdul Rahman, Olivia Biggs, Marcus Weinman","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2358141","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2358141","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article uses the theoretical framework of the networked public to understand the dynamics of online harassment of public health professionals. Coauthors draw on their experiences with health communication on social media, in a local public health department, and in news media to illustrate the utility of this framework. Their stories also highlight the need to build a more proactive approach to online harassment in public health. The coauthors highlight recommendations that health communicators can take in the face of online harassment. We also call for a more coordinated community effort to create supportive environments for online health communication, including increased funding of local health departments and increased regulation of social media companies.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141088073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-02Epub Date: 2024-06-05DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2361125
Rachael Piltch-Loeb, Jennifer John, Alexandra Zenoff, Lauren Swan-Potras
Information disorder can have adverse consequences on health. While there has been growing attention to health information quality among the general population, there has been less focus on the young adult age group and how their insights and ideas can help to explore the effects and potential interventions to address information quality. Since certain information consumption habits and effects vary among young people, their perspective can provide valuable insights for tackling the increasing issue of misinformation. This Perspective examines past youth involvement efforts to suggest ways to incorporate the youth perspective into improving the quality of health information, particularly through engagement strategies aimed at combating misinformation traits. We then propose a set of five recommendations to advance research to address information disorder, researchers can consider the following steps to engage youth.
{"title":"Engaging the Next Generation in Communication to Address Information Quality.","authors":"Rachael Piltch-Loeb, Jennifer John, Alexandra Zenoff, Lauren Swan-Potras","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2361125","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2361125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Information disorder can have adverse consequences on health. While there has been growing attention to health information quality among the general population, there has been less focus on the young adult age group and how their insights and ideas can help to explore the effects and potential interventions to address information quality. Since certain information consumption habits and effects vary among young people, their perspective can provide valuable insights for tackling the increasing issue of misinformation. This Perspective examines past youth involvement efforts to suggest ways to incorporate the youth perspective into improving the quality of health information, particularly through engagement strategies aimed at combating misinformation traits. We then propose a set of five recommendations to advance research to address information disorder, researchers can consider the following steps to engage youth.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141262110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-02Epub Date: 2024-06-04DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2357575
A Burke-Garcia, R Soskin Hicks
There is strong evidence of the impact of opinion leaders in health promotion programs. Early work by Burke-Garcia suggests that social media influencers are the opinion leaders of the digital age as they come from the communities they influence, have built trust with them, and may be useful in combating misinformation by disseminating credible and timely health information and prompting consideration of health behaviors. AI has contributed to the spread of misinformation, but it can also be a vital part of the solution, informing and educating in real time and at scale. Personalized, empathetic messaging is crucial, though, and research supports that individuals are drawn to empathetic AI responses and prefer them to human responses in some digital environments. This mimics what we know about influencers and how they approach communicating with their followers. Blending what we know about social media influencers as opinion leaders with the power and scale of AI can enable us to address the spread of misinformation. This paper reviews the knowledge base and proposes the development of something we term "Health Communication AI" - perhaps the newest form of opinion leader - to fight health misinformation.
有确凿证据表明,舆论领袖在健康促进计划中具有影响力。伯克-加西亚(Burke-Garcia)的早期研究表明,社交媒体影响者是数字时代的舆论领袖,因为他们来自于他们所影响的社区,与社区建立了信任,并通过传播可靠、及时的健康信息,促使人们考虑健康行为,从而有助于打击错误信息。人工智能助长了错误信息的传播,但它也可以成为解决方案的重要组成部分,实时、大规模地提供信息和教育。不过,个性化、感同身受的信息传递是至关重要的,研究表明,在某些数字环境中,个人会被感同身受的人工智能响应所吸引,并且比人类响应更喜欢人工智能响应。这与我们所了解的有影响力的人以及他们与追随者沟通的方式如出一辙。将我们对作为意见领袖的社交媒体影响者的了解与人工智能的力量和规模相结合,可以让我们解决错误信息的传播问题。本文回顾了相关的知识基础,并提出了开发我们称之为 "健康传播人工智能"(Health Communication AI)--或许是最新形式的意见领袖--来对抗健康误导信息的建议。
{"title":"Scaling the Idea of Opinion Leadership to Address Health Misinformation: The Case for \"Health Communication AI\".","authors":"A Burke-Garcia, R Soskin Hicks","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2357575","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2357575","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is strong evidence of the impact of opinion leaders in health promotion programs. Early work by Burke-Garcia suggests that social media influencers are the opinion leaders of the digital age as they come from the communities they influence, have built trust with them, and may be useful in combating misinformation by disseminating credible and timely health information and prompting consideration of health behaviors. AI has contributed to the spread of misinformation, but it can also be a vital part of the solution, informing and educating in real time and at scale. Personalized, empathetic messaging is crucial, though, and research supports that individuals are drawn to empathetic AI responses and prefer them to human responses in some digital environments. This mimics what we know about influencers and how they approach communicating with their followers. Blending what we know about social media influencers as opinion leaders with the power and scale of AI can enable us to address the spread of misinformation. This paper reviews the knowledge base and proposes the development of something we term \"Health Communication AI\" - perhaps the newest form of opinion leader - to fight health misinformation.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141237678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-02Epub Date: 2024-05-22DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2355291
Erin A Vogel, Lynsie R Ranker, Paul T Harrell, Joy L Hart, Grace Kong, Scott McIntosh, Helen I Meissner, Jenny E Ozga, Dan Romer, Cassandra A Stanton
To inform policy and messaging, this study examined characteristics of adolescents' and young adults' (AYAs') exposure to and engagement with nicotine and tobacco product (NTP) social media (SM) content. In this cross-sectional survey study, AYAs aged 13-26 (N=1,163) reported current NTP use, SM use frequency, and exposure to and engagement with SM content promoting and opposing NTP use (i.e. frequency, source[s], format[s], platform[s]). Participants who used NTPs (vs. did not use) were more likely to report having seen NTP content (p-values<.001). Prevalent sources were companies/brands (46.6%) and influencers (44.4%); prevalent formats were video (65.4%) and image (50.7%). Exposure to content promoting NTP use was prevalent on several popular platforms (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat); exposure to content opposing NTP use was most prevalent on YouTube (75.8%). Among those reporting content engagement (i.e. liking, commenting on, or sharing NTP content; 34.6%), 57.2% engaged with influencer content. Participants reported engaging with content promoting and opposing NTP use on popular platforms (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube). Participants with (versus without) current NTP use were significantly more likely to use most SM platforms and to report NTP content exposure and engagement (p-values<.05). Results suggest that NTP education messaging and enforcement of platforms' content restrictions are needed.
{"title":"Characteristics of Adolescents' and Young Adults' Exposure to and Engagement with Nicotine and Tobacco Product Content on Social Media.","authors":"Erin A Vogel, Lynsie R Ranker, Paul T Harrell, Joy L Hart, Grace Kong, Scott McIntosh, Helen I Meissner, Jenny E Ozga, Dan Romer, Cassandra A Stanton","doi":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2355291","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10810730.2024.2355291","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To inform policy and messaging, this study examined characteristics of adolescents' and young adults' (AYAs') exposure to and engagement with nicotine and tobacco product (NTP) social media (SM) content. In this cross-sectional survey study, AYAs aged 13-26 (<i>N</i>=1,163) reported current NTP use, SM use frequency, and exposure to and engagement with SM content promoting and opposing NTP use (i.e. frequency, source[s], format[s], platform[s]). Participants who used NTPs (vs. did not use) were more likely to report having seen NTP content (p-values<.001). Prevalent sources were companies/brands (46.6%) and influencers (44.4%); prevalent formats were video (65.4%) and image (50.7%). Exposure to content promoting NTP use was prevalent on several popular platforms (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat); exposure to content opposing NTP use was most prevalent on YouTube (75.8%). Among those reporting content engagement (i.e. liking, commenting on, or sharing NTP content; 34.6%), 57.2% engaged with influencer content. Participants reported engaging with content promoting and opposing NTP use on popular platforms (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube). Participants with (versus without) current NTP use were significantly more likely to use most SM platforms and to report NTP content exposure and engagement (p-values<.05). Results suggest that NTP education messaging and enforcement of platforms' content restrictions are needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":16026,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11229177/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141075831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}