Journal of Health Communication最新文献

Using a social network approach, we characterize who Mexican-origin young adults perceive as social support sources for oral health behaviors and provide additional validity evidence for Oral Health Behavior Social Support Scales (OHBSS). From April to September 2022, we gathered social network data from 62 Mexican-origin adults (21-40 years old) through Zoom interviews about their perceived received social support for three oral health behaviors (toothbrushing, flossing, and obtaining dental care) from three potential sources of support (family, health providers, and others/friends). Overall, we found similar results across all three oral health behaviors. We also found evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of OHBSS scales using social network measures. Implications of findings are discussed.

Internet memes, viral and mutable messages online, have been used by individuals and organizations to disseminate health messages. Specifically, both companies and public health organizations have used memes to influence e-cigarette behaviors. How does exposure to e-cigarette memes on social media shape related perceptions and behaviors among youth? This study extracted data from restricted-use file of Wave 7 (2022-2023) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, a nationally representative study that collected information about tobacco use and associated health behaviors among adults (≥18 years) and youth (12-17 years) in the United States. Our analyses investigated the association between youth participants' exposure to various sources of memes related to e-cigarette use and their e-cigarette-related expectancies, perceptions, use, and cessation, while controlling for parental and youth factors. Exposure to memes posted by friends and celebrities were all associated with lower perceived harmfulness, higher descriptive norms, more positive injunctive norms of using e-cigarettes, and more ease for purchasing e-cigarettes (ps<.05). For youth who do not use e-cigarettes, exposure to e-cigarette memes was associated with higher susceptibility of using e-cigarettes (ps<.01). Additionally, exposure to memes posted by friends was also associated with lower e-cigarette quit intentions. E-cigarette memes may influence youth's perceptions about e-cigarettes and contribute to initiation among youth. Future research is needed for identifying strategies in using Internet memes for e-cigarette prevention and health campaigns.

This study explores young adults' open-ended survey responses (n = 44) about negative sexual communication experiences and their perceptions of what went wrong during those encounters. Participant responses are situated in literature on sexual script theory to recognize the societal expectations that may impact individuals' approaches to sexual encounters while creating room for initial findings regarding the nature of negative sexual communication experiences. A thematic analysis was performed and three themes were constructed: salient (scripted) sexual expectations; a lack of communication during sex; and outcomes and expressions of dissatisfaction. Findings indicate that gendered scripts about sex may facilitate negative communication experiences during sex, including poor perceptions of satisfaction, safety, and consent.

With innovations in health information technology, there are increasing opportunities to search for health information online, with the potential to reduce health care costs and improve health outcomes for the family. This study aims to investigate how family communication processes influence online health information seeking for oneself (self OHIS) and for another person (surrogate OHIS). An online survey was conducted among 325 adults in China. The results showed that family conversation orientation was positively related to family health history (FHH) communication intentions, whereas family conformity orientation was negatively related to FHH communication intentions. Family conversation orientation was positively related to self and surrogate OHIS through the partial and masking mediation effects of FHH communication intentions, respectively. Family conformity orientation was negatively related to self OHIS through the full mediating effect of FHH communication intentions, while FHH communication intentions played a masking mediating role between conformity orientation and surrogate OHIS. Implications for extending family communication patterns research to health communication and cultural forces on OHIS are discussed.

The perception of reality could matter more than reality itself when it comes to disease outbreaks. News media are important sources of information during global disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on theories of fear appeals and the social ecological model, we conducted multilevel modeling analyses to examine how media-level and community-level factors influenced the public's risk perceptions of COVID-19 and frequencies of preventive behaviors in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India. We combined a large-scale multi-wave cross-country survey (N = 161,374) with a COVID-19 media coverage archive (N = 10,015,187) to test these relationships. We found that fear in media headlines was positively correlated with people's perceptions of risk but negatively correlated with frequencies of preventive behaviors, controlling for individual-, community-, and cultural-level factors. Similar patterns were consistently identified within each individual country. We also show that community factors interacted with the media environment to influence public risk perceptions and behaviors. Our findings highlight a strong mass media influence during the pandemic, and we discuss the implications of our findings for health communication during crisis times.

The personalized information service My Cancer Navigator (MCN) answers therapy-related questions of patients with cancer and their caregivers, to address information needs and contribute to shared decision-making (SDM). An explorative and descriptive cross-sectional study using online surveys was conducted to assess whether users perceived a change in factors contributing to SDM after using the service. Of 253 invited MCN users, 109 (43.1%) filled out the survey (64.2% patients and 35.8% caregivers). Most participants experienced a positive change in their emotional well-being (72.5%) and knowledge level (86.3%). The majority (68.5%) of patients reported being able to cope better with their disease while 76.4% of caregivers felt more able to support the patient throughout the disease process. Discussing treatment preferences and making decisions with health-care professionals (HCPs) became easier for 48.5% and 44.0% of patients, respectively. Of all participants, 52.0% reported a change in disease management. These findings suggest that most participants perceived MCN as impactful. The service facilitated the implementation of SDM from the patient perspective by improving communication with HCPs, increasing knowledge level, improving emotional well-being, and helping them cope better with the disease. Further research should explore how this type of service can be integrated in the care pathway.

Readability formulas are prominent health communication assessment tools, but they can yield varying estimates. Such variation is often treated as error in computerized tools but can result from text preprocessing decisions in manual and computerized assessments alike. This study illustrates the effect of preprocessing on reading grade level estimates in short-form online content, thereby illustrating the importance of reporting these decisions and the limitations of these formulas.We manually counted words, sentences, and syllables in a sample of 100 Tweets by U.S. state health agencies from 2012 through 2022. We applied the Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook and Flesch-Kincaid formulas under 7 inclusive preprocessing scenarios, differentially including URLs, hashtags, and/or numbers in word counts. We compared resulting estimates to those from a restrictive baseline that excluded these elements. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed significant differences in median grade level estimates. No significant differences were found in the percentage of Tweets meeting an 8th-grade benchmark. Linear regression showed that baseline estimates did not adequately explain observed variation.Despite the potential benefit of interpretability, we conclude that readability formulas are unreliable for short-form online content. Instead, we recommend directly using word, sentence, and syllable counts. We also recommend conducting sensitivity analyses for readability assessments.

Based on constructs from source credibility and narrative engagement theory, this research examines (a) the mediators or processes whereby celebrity (vs. non-celebrity) sources enhance narrative persuasion and (b) the moderators or conditions under which celebrity (vs. non-celebrity) sources persuade. The study employed a two-group (celebrity vs. non-celebrity) between-subjects experimental design with 360 participants. Results showed that, compared to the non-celebrity source, the celebrity source was perceived as more attractive, which increased narrative engagement, consequently led to more positive behavioral intentions and policy opinions, particularly among those with low involvement. These results practically suggest that health campaigns that aim at low involvement audiences could benefit from the use of celebrity sources in narrative messages. This research integrates theories of narrative transportation, source credibility, and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to examine how celebrity (vs. non-celebrity) sources influence health campaign effectiveness. By testing the sequential mediating effects of source credibility and narrative engagement, the study provides a more comprehensive understanding of narrative persuasion using celebrity sources, particularly in the context of health campaigns for cardiovascular diseases.

This study investigates the impact of Electronic Patient Portals (EPPs) on patient satisfaction and trust among Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) patients in China. Utilizing data from a sample of 317 DHH patients, the study employs regression analyses and mediation models to explore relationships among EPPs use, patient-centered communication (PCC), self-care skills, patient satisfaction, and trust in healthcare providers and institutions. The findings reveal that EPPs significantly enhance PCC (β=.388, p < .001). Improved PCC, in turn, boosts DHH patients' self-care skills (β=.177, p=.001), which ultimately increases patient satisfaction (β=.246, p < .001), trust in healthcare providers (β=.483, p < .001), and trust in healthcare institutions (β=.499, p < .001). Furthermore, bootstrapping results confirm that PCC and self-care skills are crucial mediators, bridging the influence of EPP use on patient satisfaction and trust. These results underscore the importance of EPPs in improving healthcare experiences for DHH patients, highlighting their role in fostering better communication, enhancing self-care abilities, and building trust in the healthcare system.