Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk 2011 Abstracts
How to Resolve Contradictory Health Messages? : An Alternative Message Framework for Public Service Announcement Developers • Ho-Young (Anthony) Ahn, U of Tennessee; Lei Wu; Eric Haley • A qualitative study was designed to explore college students’ interpretations of and responses toward conflicting tanning health messages, as well as understanding college students’ knowledge, experience, and perceptions toward the popular health issues. Practical implications were provided in terms of developing effective skin cancer prevention messages as well as tanning-promotion messages to help people build correct attitudes toward tanning.
Predicting Scientists’ Participation in Public Life • John Besley, University of South Carolina; Sang Hwa Oh, University of South Carolina • This manuscript provides secondary data analysis of two large-scale surveys of scientists, including a 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press conducted in cooperation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), as well as a 2006 survey by the United Kingdom’s Royal Society. The data is used to develop multivariate models explaining scientists’ involvement in communication activities such as engagement with the public and the news media. Demographic factors and scientific sub-field has little impact on engagement, but views about the public and the value of engagement predict scientists’ engagement behavior and willingness to engage. Future survey work, however, should use a more theory-driven variable selection process.
Branding Health Communication Strategies Aimed at Healthcare Professionals • Patrick Merle; Robin Haislett; Dane Kiambi, Texas Tech University; Shannon Bichard, Texas Tech; Kat Livingston; Shankar Borua, Texas Tech University; Spencer Sorensen; Stephanie Kang; Trent Seltzer, Texas Tech University; Elizabeth Gardner, Texas Tech University; Coy Callison • The current study addresses the effort to brand new communication strategies among healthcare professionals. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted for the analysis of current communication barriers, message channels and sustainability tactics, and their influence on the patient experience. Strategies are offered to address effective communication training tactics and sustainability in an effort to maximize patient care and satisfaction.
Not in my backyard or yours: Communicative influences of opinion leadership on perceptions of risks and benefits of a bioresearch facility • Andrew Binder, North Carolina State University; Dietram Scheufele; Dominique BROSSARD, LSC, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study builds on past research in the communication of science and risk by integrating models of attitude formation and learning with an important social factor: opinion leadership. We consider the role that opinion leadership can play in the flow of mass media and interpersonal communication to influence how individual-level risk and benefit perceptions of a potentially high-risk research facility evolve. In order to do so, we rely on primary data from a longitudinal study of the communication and public opinion dynamics surrounding the establishment of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in five candidate communities. The models tested in this study suggest a very flexible influence of opinion leadership in these different communities, in part moderated by the overarching social network—of supporters or opponents—within which they are embedded. Implications for future work on the public communication of science and technology are discussed.
How Global Warming Websites Frame Science Information • Lisa Parcell, Wichita State University; Michael Boyle, West Chester University • The global warming “debate” began as a pure science story, later framed by the media as a heated conflict. No longer solely reliant on the news media to present their “side” of the issue, special interests on both sides launched websites to inform and persuade visitors to their sites. However, these sites vary greatly in the extent to which they use science information, opinion, and other devices in framing global warming arguments. This study builds on science communication literature to examine 21 global warming websites and the specific nature and prominence of scientific information within the sites through a qualitative content analysis.
The impact of social context, warning components, and receiver characteristics on evacuation decisions of African Americans • Vankita Brown, Howard University • This study explores the situational influences found in the Protective Action Decision Model: family involvement (social context), source, channel, message components, (warning components), and fatalism and place attachment (receiver characteristics) on the protective action of African Americans in New Orleans during a hurricane. Additionally, the role of social networks among this community during these times was also assessed. Statistical analyses indicate that social context did not reveal a relationship with evacuation decisions. Public and governmental officials were found to be sources relied on during a hurricane. Both mass mediated and interpersonal communication channels were utilized among respondents, and all message components tested were important to participants. While fatalism was not correlated with evacuation decisions, place attachment was found to have an inverse relationship with willingness to evacuate. Thematic analysis reveals that social networks function as: a source of information and resources, confirmation of warnings, and catalyst to incite action. Results have implications for risk communicators utilizing PAMD as a framework to aid in devising outreach and educational campaigns.
Regulatory trust, risk information processing and support for an emerging technology • Michael Cacciatore, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dietram Scheufele; Elizabeth Corley, Arizona St. University • Research investigating public attitudes toward nanotechnology has been primarily concerned with assessing the types of risks that the public perceives, as well as how these risks influence larger evaluations of the technology. Recently, however, there have been calls for a more complete understanding of the relationship between risk perceptions and support (Kahan, 2009). This analysis seeks to provide such an understanding by exploring the moderating effects of trust on the risk perception-attitude link. Our findings reveal that while risk perceptions are negatively related to support, the influence of specific risk perceptions on support can vary depending on an individual’s level of trust in the regulators of science. Specifically, our findings suggest two groups of people. The first group (those low in trust) are much more likely to base their decisions about support for nanotechnology on their perceptions of risks. That is, as their risk perceptions increase, their support decreases. The second group of people (those high in trust) are less likely to base their evaluations of nanotechnology on risk perceptions. While many of these individuals may agree that risks are high, their trust appears to override such beliefs and leads to a significantly smaller drop in support for the technology. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.
Investigating the Role of Identities and Opinion Leadership on Risk Information Seeking and Sharing about Proposed Natural Gas Drilling in New York’s Marcellus Shale • Chris Clarke, Cornell University • This study investigates how identities motivate risk information seeking and sharing about risk controversies, using natural gas drilling in New York State’s Marcellus Shale as a case study. Thirty-six interviews explore the novel premise that an opinion leader identity and the contexts in which it emerges (including group membership and social roles) helps people negotiate a complex risk message environment and shapes communication behavior over time. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Examining Metaphors in Biopolitical Discourse • Cynthia-Lou Coleman, Portland State University; L. David Ritchie • This essay argues that common metaphors and metaphoric phrases used in biopolitical discourse limit how meanings are constructed by framing messages narrowly: so much so, that alternate readings are delimited, resulting in less opportunity for cognitive scrutiny of such messages. We moor our discussion of metaphors in cognitive linguistics, building on three decades of research by scholars including Sam Glucksberg (2008), George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980, 1999), and Ray Gibbs, Jr. (2006, 2008), demonstrating how research in framing effects bolsters our claims of limited entailments resulting from message construction. By situating our discussion of framing in biopolitics we make a case that metaphors including Frankenfood, Designer Baby, Vegetative State and Death Tax address how life and death are “managed” in discourse (Foucault, 1980). In this essay we demonstrate ways in which the framing of some metaphors in social discourse slip under readers’ and viewers’ cognitive radars, and thus become “under-the-radar metaphors.”
Impacts of Generalized Interpersonal and Institutional Trust on Environmental Health and Safety Risk Information-Seeking • Christopher Cummings, North Carolina State University • Traditional models of risk communication need elaboration as the media landscape has fundamentally changed. Researchers should investigate not only how messages are disseminated, but also how the public seeks-out risk information within the increasingly complex media landscape. This paper investigates preliminary questions about citizens’ information-seeking behavior and the impacts of generalized interpersonal and institutional trust on media channel selection. Data are populated from a national survey study treating traditional broadcast media and Internet-based media.
The Goldilocks Zone of Science Communication: An analysis of how media depicted Gliese 581g • Michael Dahlstrom, Iowa State University; Michael Bugeja, Iowa State University • This study examines how the pre-existing meaning stored within “Goldilocks” was used in coverage of the discovery of a potentially habitable planet. Results of content analysis revealed that while “Goldilocks” was present in half of the articles, its use was rarely attributed. When compared to the technical name of the planetary system, “Goldilocks” was more clustered near the top of the story and its use remained constant over time while the technical term declined.
Following the leader: Using opinion leaders in environmental strategic communication • Kajsa Dalrymple; Bret Shaw; Dominique BROSSARD, LSC, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study explores the role that opinion leaders play in encouraging more positive environmental behaviors regarding an issue of growing concern. Results indicate that media can have mixed effects on levels of self-efficacy, and that opinion leaders with higher levels of self-efficacy are more likely to participate in behaviors that could influence their social network(s). These findings offer insights as to how future campaigns can utilize these groups in order to promote prevention activities.
Consensus and Controversy: Climate Change Frames in Two Australian Newspapers • Jamie Nolan, University of Miami; Michel Dupagne, University of Miami • This content analysis evaluated the salience of climate change frames in news and opinion articles of two influential Australian newspapers with different editorial stances between 1997 and 2007. Results revealed that the scientific uncertainty frame appeared more frequently in the more conservative Australian than in the more liberal Age. But the scientific background, policy background, political strategy, and public engagement frames related to climate change were less prevalent in that newspaper than in The Age. The Australian’s climate change articles also relied less on the Australian government and environmental groups as news sources and were more negative in tone than those published in The Age.
Can eWOM Help Smokers Quit? Effects of Online Consumer Reviews of Smoking Cessation Products • Petya Eckler, University of Iowa • This study examines the psychological effects of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about smoking cessation products on smokers through the Theory of Planned Behavior. The effects of three message features (valence, extremity, appeal) are tested on attitude toward quitting smoking and perceived behavioral control. Valence affected both dependent variables; extremity and appeal interacted to affect perceived behavioral control. Theoretical and practical implications for the study of eWOM in a health context are discussed.
Richard Dawkins: A critical case study of the celebrity scientist • Declan Fahy, School of Communication, American University, Washington, D.C • Celebrity is a pervasive cultural phenomenon, but compared to other professions, scientific fame has remained under-examined. This paper uses zoologist and writer Richard Dawkins as a critical case study to explore scientific celebrity, tracing the historical development and meanings of Dawkins’s fame, through his writing on evolution, his defense of scientific rationality and his current position as emblem of positivist, rational atheism. Celebrity offers a novel framework for analyzing the media representation of science.
Mediated Messages and Self-Efficacy: An Examination of Entertainment-Education, Junk Food commercials and Healthy Eating Habits • Anthony Galvez • According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the rate of obesity in the U.S. has doubled from 1980 to 2004. Because of the pervasiveness of television viewing in American households, it seems logical to implement healthy eating initiatives through television programming. The existing literature demonstrates the effectiveness of the entertainment-education model of message creation to educate audiences about a long list of prosocial issues. One question that remains unanswered is the following: Can the entertainment-education model succeed in industrialized nations where media choices are so varied that reaching target audiences becomes problematic? The purpose of the study was to test if a) exposure to a prosocial message would affect individual self-efficacy toward controlling eating and b) if exposure to junk food commercials would negate any effect of the prosocial message. A convenience sample of 139 college students from Mass Communications courses at a large southwestern university participated in a 2X2 factorial design experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups and asked to watch a 30-minute sitcom with half of the participants watching an entertainment-education type message about diet and exercise. Participants were also exposed to junk food advertisements in two of the treatment groups. Results indicated no difference in levels of self-efficacy between those groups exposed to the entertainment-education messages and junk food messages when compared to the control group, thus indicating a need to further evaluate how to develop a better strategy for entertainment-education in media saturated countries.
Exploring the effects of Anti-Alcohol Abuse Message Types on Rebellious College Students • Eun Go, Pennsylvania State University; Moon Lee, University of Florida • The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of college students who were exposed to anti-alcohol abuse messages (fear vs. humor) aimed at discouraging heavy drinking. Particularly, this study explores how college students process humorous and fear-arousing messages differently based on their rebellious tendency. A total of 302 people participated in this study. Results indicated that rebellious college students who watched the fear ads reported lower levels of intention to change their drinking behaviors than those who watched the humor ads. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed in the paper.
Message Framing and Vaccination Outcomes: A Within-messages Framing Manipulation Experiment • Rustam Haydarov, UNICEF; Joye Gordon, Kansas State University • This experimental research tested what combination of attribute and goal frames within messages produces the strongest effect on vaccination behavior. Participants (N=476) were exposed online to four experimental framing manipulations and a control condition. A combination of the positive attribute and the negative goal frame was the only condition significantly more persuasive than the control condition. This study contributes to the evidenced-based applicability of framing theory within the context of health communication activities.
Understanding H1N1 influenza with PIM model: A comparison on risk perceptions between the U.S. and China using structural equation modeling • Gang (Kevin) Han, Iowa State University; Kejun Chu; Guolin Shen • This study proposes a “personal-interpersonal-mass mediated” influence (PIM) model, aiming to understand how H1N1 flu risk at four reference levels (personal, group, societal and global) are perceived by college students living in the U.S. and China. The structural equation modeling is tested with the data collected from 1895 and 1441 completed online questionnaires. Findings suggest that the PIM model fits the data well, three dimensions of which are positively associated with respondents’ H1N1 risk perceptions at all levels. Personal disease history is the most powerful factor, showing relatively stronger influence on Chinese respondents than on U.S. respondents. Interpersonal communication exerts stronger influence at group and societal levels, and is a more powerful predictor to U.S. respondents. Mass communication illustrates ubiquitously significant effects on risk perceptions at all reference levels, which plays a more important role for Chinese respondents than for U.S. respondents. Mass-mediated experience has also been more influential than interpersonal communication for Chinese respondents to understand health risk in remote area at global level.
Motivated Reasoning, Identity Cues, and Support for Climate Mitigation Policies a Moderated-Mediation Model • Philip Hart, American University; Erik Nisbet, Ohio State University • This study draws from theories of motivated reasoning, social identity, and persuasion to examine how science-based messages may increase public polarization on controversial science issues such as climate change. Exposing 240 adults to simulated news stories about possible climate change health impacts on different groups, we find that political affiliation interacts with social distance cues to influence identification with victims, which in turn impacts support for climate mitigation policies. Implications for science communication are discussed.
Newspaper coverage of Shaken Baby Syndrome, 1992-2008 • Heidi Hennink-Kaminski, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Elizabeth Dougall • This longitudinal content analysis examines whether news media coverage of shaken baby syndrome aligns with contemporary scientific knowledge about its context, incidence and consequences. A quantitative content analysis of 1,167 newspaper articles about shaken baby syndrome from 1992 to 2008 published in top U.S. newspapers was conducted. Variables of interest included mention of “infant crying” or “colic” in relation to shaking, mention of early infant crying as normal, the consequences of shaking, victim/perpetrator portrayals, and types of sources. SBS is typified in ways that are at odds with contemporary scientific knowledge of its context and consequences. Most newspaper coverage provides no explanation of triggers such as crying, and positions the abuse as unpredictable and unpreventable.
Understanding Recycling Behaviors: A Theoretical Expansion of the Influence of Presumed Media Influence Model • Youqing Liao; Yanyi Yang; Titus J. Yong; Shirley S. Ho • This paper presents a theoretical framework to explain the influence of individuals’ attention to pro-environmental media messages on their recycling intentions. Building on the influence of presumed media influence (IPMI) model, we examine both direct and indirect media effects on recycling intentions and integrate the constructs of attitudes, descriptive, subjective, and injunctive norms into the model. We tested this framework on a random sample of 1,144 Singaporeans using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Using structural equation modeling, we found evidence of IPMI on recycling intentions, in addition to direct media effects on attitudes, norms and recycling intentions. As expected, perceived media influence on others affected one’s recycling intentions. This relationship was further accounted for by three mediating constructs: attitudes, descriptive, and subjective norms. Injunctive norms, however, did not serve as a mediator. Implications and limitations of the findings were discussed.
The Blame Frame: Media attribution of blame during the MMR-autism vaccination scare • Avery Holton, University of Texas-Austin; Brooke Weberling, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Chris Clarke, Cornell University; Michael Smith, University of Louisville • Scholars have examined how news media frame events, including responsibility for causing and fixing problems and how these frames inform public judgment. This study analyzed the content of 281 newspaper articles about a controversial study linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination with autism. Given criticism of the study as well as its negative impact on vaccination rates across multiple countries, this study examined the actors to whom news media attributed blame for the association between the MMR vaccination and autism, what sources were employed to support those attributions, and what solutions, if any, were offered. This study provides unique insight by examining the evolution of these attributions over the lifetime of the MMR-autism controversy. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
News Coverage of Psychological Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Trauma Causes, Reactions, and Treatment • J. Brian Houston, University of Missouri • In order to understand how psychological trauma and PTSD are depicted in the news media, a content analysis of television news and newspapers was conducted. Results found that news depictions of psychological trauma were more likely to focus on “trauma” in general than on “PTSD.” Almost all trauma news stories (98.2%) described the cause of the trauma. The most common cause of trauma in news stories was military service, which was mostly related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most trauma news stories did not mention a trauma reaction (64%) or a type of trauma treatment (69%). Committing murder/homicide was the most frequent trauma reaction overall. On average, trauma news stories were more episodic than thematic and there were significant differences in the episodic and thematic framing of different trauma causes.
The Role of Unequal Information Resources Distribution on Health Information Seeking • Heewon Im, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Jaeho Cho • The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and individuals’ health information seeking has been tested in previous studies, but not many explanations for the relationship have been suggested. In this study, the role of unequal resources distribution is proposed as a possible mechanism underlying both the relationship between SES and health information seeking and the relationship between social engagement and health information seeking. The information resources, which are time, money, and information skills, are not equally distributed across different SES groups and individuals’ levels of social engagement; the unequal distribution of resources results from individuals’ different abilities and motivations in seeking health information. In addition, the unequal resources distribution is predicted to moderate the effect of personal relevance of health issues on health information seeking, by varying motivation and ability level. The secondary data analysis was conducted using the 2007 ANHCS. The results show partial support for the positive relationship between social engagement and health information seeking. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the effect of social capital on individuals’ health.
Examination of message features in DTC ads and its impact on disclosure recall • Narayanan Iyer, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • Typically disclosures about risks and side effects are communicated via the audio modality in televised pharmaceutical drug commercials. A recent directive from the FDA advises prescription drug advertisers to concurrently convey disclosure information through both audio and video modality (congruence). The FDA also directs drug commercials to not have any elements that could potentially distract viewers from paying attention to disclosures (dominance). There is little research on DTC advertising that tests the impact of modality congruence and visual dominance on recall. An experiment was conducted (N = 98) to investigate this further and the results showed significant effects for visual dominance and its interaction with modality congruence.
Leading and Following in Medical Pack Journalism • Vincent Kiernan, Georgetown University • This study applies the concept of opinion leadership to the phenomenon of pack journalism among medical journalists at daily newspapers. Journalists were surveyed about stress and autonomy in their work. Respondents also were asked to identify other journalists whose work influences them. Regression analysis showed no relationship between autonomy or stress and the propensity of respondents to follow other journalists. Journalists at elite media outlets exerted significant influence over other journalists’ news coverage.
Potential for Cancer Care or Health Threats Producer?: Interaction Effects of News Frame and Information Processing Style on Further Information Seeking About Nanotechnology • Sojung (Claire) Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Timothy Fung, Department of Communication Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University; Dominique BROSSARD, LSC, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This investigation explored main and interactive effects of different news frame and information processing style on further information seeking about nanotechnology and its effects on health treatment. With a total of 378 participants, a 2 (gain vs. loss frame) X 2 (systematic vs. heuristic information processing) between-subjects experimental design was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The study revealed that individuals who were exposed to a positively framed story about the use of nanotechnology in cancer care were more willing to seek out further information about the topic than those who in a negatively framed news. Moreover, individuals sought out information about the topic most when they systematically processed the information in a positively framed story, whereas they sought out the least amount of information when they systematically thought about the topic but in a negatively framed article. Theoretical insights and practical implications of the study findings are further discussed.
Online Information and Self-Reported Learning About Health Care Quality and Costs • Ashley Kirzinger, Louisiana State University; Margaret DeFleur, Louisiana State University; Kirby Goidel • According to a 2009 Pew Research Center study, 61 percent of Americans report going online for health-related information. Described as “e-patients,” this group of health consumers is frequently looking for very specific, tailored information with 60 percent of “e-patients” reporting that the information they found online related to the treatment of an illness or a condition. While we are beginning to understand the online behavior of individuals searching for information about a specific illness, considerably less is known about individuals’ reliance on the Internet for other aspects of health care information, especially information about health care quality and costs. A telephone survey of a random sample of Louisiana residents examined the factors associated with self-reported learning about health care quality and costs. We explore whether using online health information affects individuals’ intent to use a website that posts information about health care quality and costs. Results indicate that since online health information seeking is generally directed at specific diseases, there is little relationship between the use of online sources for medical and health-related information and self-reported learning about health care quality and costs. Yet, individual choice in health care providers is a strong predictor of increased levels of learning about health care quality and costs and increased levels of online health information seeking. We conclude by demonstrating that while there is ample interest among health consumers for information about health care quality and costs, there is a strong disconnect between consumer needs and the information that is available.
“Dr. Soundbite”: The Making of an Expert Source in Science and Medical Stories • Marjorie Kruvand, Loyola University Chicago • Bioethicists have been increasingly used as expert sources in science and medical stories involving ethical issues. This descriptive case study examines how and why a single bioethicist, Dr. Arthur L. Caplan, has become such a ubiquitous source on an extremely broad range of topics. Organizational news routines provide the theoretical framework for a content analysis of coverage in six newspapers over a 19-year period and interviews with Caplan and six science and medical journalists. The study finds that as part of the small, trusted roster of sources that journalists turn to again and again, Caplan has been the de facto representative of the bioethics profession in the news for the last two decades and has helped shape media discourse on bioethical issues. Findings show that Caplan is quoted so extensively because he understands and follows news routines, likes talking with reporters, provides pithy quotes, and is committed to public engagement. Critics are concerned, however, that Caplan’s personal opinions, values, and biases may be viewed by news consumers as “the” ethical position on issues.
The Influence of a Spin-off of a Health Division on the Content of Health News:A Comparison of Two Leading Korean Newspapers • Na Yeon Lee • This study examines how the establishment of a spin-off, a subsidiary of a parent company that was created as a strategy to increase profits for news organizations, affects the content of the health news. A content analysis of two leading Korean newspapers showed that the main frames of health news changed from promotion of a healthy lifestyle to medical treatments related to potential advertisers, such as private hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Results also demonstrated that reporters relied more upon health news sources from potential advertisers. These findings suggest that a spin-off may influence the frames of news in ways that give more emphasis to advertisers. This study can contribute to framing research about the hierarchy of influence on news content by identifying the new factor of spin-offs.
The Role of Social Capital in Public Health Communication Campaigns: The Case of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign • Chul-joo Lee, The Ohio State University • In this paper, we explored how media health campaigns exert their effects through audience’s social capital. Using the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY) dataset, we examined the interactive effects of parents’ campaign exposure and antidrug-specific social capital at both individual- and geographically-aggregated levels on parents’ drug-related talk with their child. We found main effects of parents’ campaign exposure and parents’ antidrug-specific community activities on their talk about drugs with their child. More interestingly, there was a negative interactive effect between campaign exposure and antidrug-specific community activities on the parent talking behavior. In contrast, there was neither a contextual effect of aggregate-level antidrug-specific social capital nor a cross-level interaction involving aggregate-level social capital. The implications of these findings for communication research and public health intervention were discussed.
Resources Aren’t Everything, But They Do Help! Assessing Local TV Health News to Deliver Substantive and Useful Information for Smart Health Decisions • Young Ah Lee, University of Missouri; Erin Willis, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Sun A Park; Hyunmin Lee • Gatekeeping theory informed this comparative analysis of local TV health news stories (N=416) from two different local television stations. Station characteristics such as available resources and network affiliation influenced length (Cramer’s V= .517), location (V= .369), health topics (V= .410), number and quality of news sources, and imputed target audience (V= .173) of local TV health newscasts.
Third-Person Effect and Rectifying Behaviors: Studying Antisocial and Prosocial Online Messages of Youth Drug Abuse • Wan Chi Leung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • This study examined third-person perceptions for two types of online messages, the antisocial drug-encouraging messages and the prosocial anti-youth drug abuse messages, and their relationship with three types of rectifying behaviors, restrictive, corrective and promotional. While the perceptual gap of antisocial online messages significantly predicted three types of rectifying behaviors, that of prosocial messages failed. Instead, perceived effect of prosocial messages on the self significantly predicted higher likelihood of rectifying behaviors. Perceived effects of antisocial messages on the self and on others were also significant in predicting rectifying behaviors. This study thus calls for more investigation on perceived effects on the self, especially for prosocial messages. Examination of the target corollary was contrary to previous findings, showing that perceived exposure of others to prosocial messages was a significant predictor to behaviors. This points to more explorations on the role of perceived exposure to prosocial messages in the behavioral component.
An Examination of the Indirect Effects of Media on Intentions to Avoid Unprotected Sun Exposure • Jennette Lovejoy, University of Portland; Daniel Riffe, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill • A regional online survey (N=1, 251) of students enrolled at institutions of higher education examined whether internal psychological states, such as attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived risk mediated the relationship between individual media environments and the likelihood of engaging in a health-adverse behavior such as unprotected sun exposure. Direct effects showed that general and health media use were significant predictors of tanning intentions. All psychological states, except perceived susceptibility, were positively related to intentions to avoid unprotected sun exposure. Indirect effects revealed that general news use was associated with a greater perception of one’s peers and important others engaging in sun protective behaviors, which in turn increased one’s own intentions to engage in sun protection behaviors. A single case of suppression was also evident and showed that individuals’ decreased perceptions of the severity of cancer enhanced the relationship between general newspaper use and sun protection intentions.
Effects of Proximity on the Cognitive Processing of Environmental News • Charles Meadows, University of Alabama; Cui Zhang, University of Alabama; Shuhua Zhou, University of Alabama • To investigate the influence of physical proximity on the cognitive and affective processing of environmental news stories, this study examined the physiological responses and cued recall to environmental news stories on four different environmental issues. The results showed that high-proximity environmental news stories elicited greater heart rate deceleration than low-proximity ones. No significant effects were found for proximity on electrodermal activity. Additionally, no significant effects were found for cued recall, suggesting only limited proximity effects on arousal and retrieval of environmental news stories. These findings present a complex role for proximity in the cognitive processing of news stories. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Computer Mediated Social Support and the Effects of Expression: The Mediating Role of Perceived Bonding on Cancer Patients’ Coping Strategies • Kang Namkoong, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Dhavan Shah; Bryan McLaughlin, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Woohyun Yoo, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Sojung (Claire) Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Shawnika Hull, University of Wisconsin; Tae Joon Moon; Courtney Johnson; Robert Hawkins; David Gustafson • This study examines the mechanism underlying the effects of computer-mediated social support (CMSS) on cancer patients’ coping strategies, distinguishing between the effects of the expression and the reception of emotionally supportive messages. 237 breast cancer patients participating in CMSS groups were included in the analysis. Findings show that the effects of (a) CMSS group use and (b) emotionally supportive expression on patients’ positive coping strategies are mediated by perceived bonding among breast cancer patients.
Acceptability of the H1N1 Vaccine among Older Adults: The Interplay of Message Framing and Perceived Vaccine Safety and Efficacy • Xiaoli Nan, University of Maryland; Bo Xie; Kelly Madden • This study examines the relative effectiveness of using gain- vs. loss-framed messages to promote H1N1 vaccination among older adults, focusing on the moderating role of the message recipients’ perceived vaccine safety and efficacy. An experiment was conducted with older adults recruited from senior centers in the state of Maryland. Results show that older adults who were presented with a loss-framed H1N1 vaccination message developed more favorable attitudes toward H1N1 vaccination and greater intentions to receive the vaccine. But these findings are only limited to older adults who perceived low vaccine efficacy. For those who perceived high vaccine efficacy, message framing didn’t make a difference in post-exposure attitudes and intentions. Overall, framing had no systematic main effects and perceived vaccine safety did not moderate framing effects.
Multilevel Analysis of the Impact of School-Level Tobacco Policies on Adolescent Smoking: Implications for Health Communication • Hye-Jin Paek, Michigan State University; Thomas Hove, Michigan State University; Hyun Jung Oh • This study explores what degrees and types of tobacco-free school policy (TFSP) enforcement are associated with adolescent smoking. A multilevel analysis using 1082 individual students who are nested in 14 schools indicates that a greater punishment of TFSP violation and more tobacco control communication efforts are associated with lower adolescent smoking. But designation of a tobacco-free school zone and school-level smoking are associated with higher adolescent smoking. Implications for effective communication efforts on TFSP are discussed.
(Conditional) Support, Permission, and Misconceptions: Considering Workplace Support for Breastfeeding • Sheila Peuchaud • This paper analyses the responses of 123 business owners and managers when asked about their current practices and attitudes concerning workplace support for breastfeeding mothers. The responses indicate that breastfeeding is largely considered a behavior that employers may or may not permit, placing the practice and womens’ bodies under the control of the employer. Space and time accommodations vary widely, and several responses indicated misconceptions which, if rectified, could extend support for breastfeeding to women in a wider variety of industries and socio-economic levels.
How does Doctor-Patient Communication Differ Based on the Gender of Doctor and the Gender of Patient? An Analysis of Entertainment-Education Based Network Medical Drama Grey’s Anatomy. • Lok Pokhrel, Washington State University • This study content analyzed the total of 12 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy of season six. Total of twenty four episodes of the season six, in which total of sixty eight (N= 68) units of doctor-patient (characters) interactions were coded. This study aimed to find whether there is any significant difference in the communication between doctor and patient due to their gender difference. This study didn’t find a significant difference in terms of doctor-patient communication influenced by the gender of the doctor. The study found that the patients have interacted more to the female doctor characters than to the male doctor characters; however, the difference is not significant except in two categories: patient providing information on past medical diagnosis, and patient seeking information on adjustment/coping (p<.05). In average, patients have communicated more with the female doctor characters than the male counterparts (Male: n=28, Female: n= 40).
The Role of Family Communication Style, Coviewing and Mediation in Family Nutrition Efficacy and Behavior • Erica Austin; Pinkleton Bruce; Marie Louise Radanielina-Hita; Weina Ran, Washington State University • An internet-based survey of 150 parents investigated parental communication styles, mediation and coviewing behaviors regarding media and family nutrition. The results indicated that concept-oriented parental communication predicted negative mediation and parental efficacy for making healthy changes in family nutrition behaviors, while socio orientation predicted the tendency to watch TV during dinner. Coviewing negatively predicted efficacy and positively predicted eating dinner while watching TV. The results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing obesity may benefit from targeting parental mediation strategies and encouraging concept-oriented approaches to family communication practices.
HIV Stigmatization and Stereotyping in Chinese News Coverage: From a Framing Perspective • Chunbo Ren, Washington State University; Stacey Hust, Washington State University; Peng Zhang, The University of Georgia; Yunze Zhao, Renmin University of China • A recent study revealed serious HIV/AIDS stigmatization is prevalent in Chinese media discourse. The current study extends this research by exploring how people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are portrayed in Chinese media, and how these media frame HIV transmission and responsibility attribution for PLWHA. The result suggests that the newspaper articles promote two different views of people living with HIV/AIDS that is dependent on the manner with which the contracted the disease. Individuals who contract the disease through socially acceptable means are worthy of being featured. In contrast, individuals who contract the disease through socially unacceptable means are less likely to be identified as individuals, and instead are devalued as a nondescript member of a highly dangerous group. This juxtaposition reinforces stigmatization the will mitigate China’s HIV/AIDS anti-stigma efforts.
Mind or Body? A Qualitative Framing Analysis of Fibromyalgia in Newspapers Versus Health Websites • Joy Rodgers, University of Florida; Mari Luz Zapata Ramos, University of Florida • This qualitative framing analysis examined stories and articles in newspapers and health websites to identify frames in the ongoing debate about whether fibromyalgia is a medical or mental affliction. A total of 95 articles retrieved from online archives of elite newspapers and top health information websites were analyzed. The study found that newspapers more frequently framed fibromyalgia in terms of a medical condition, while health websites leaned more toward a mental frame.
Self-identity and past behavior in risk information seeking intention: An augmented PRISM • Sonny Rosenthal, The University of Texas at Austin • This study augmented Kahlor’s (2010) planned risk information seeking model (PRISM). The augmented PRISM depicts risk information seeking intention as the product of attitudes toward seeking, seeking-related subjective norms, perceived control over seeking, affective response, information-seeking self-identity, and past seeking. This study used an online survey of Americans (N = 602) in order to assess the fit of the augmented model, with specific attention to the novel model components—information-seeking self-identity and past seeking. Results supported the proposed model (R2 = .62) and five stated hypotheses related to information-seeking self-identity. In addition, I explored a research question related to past seeking. A notable, but unanticipated finding was that—at least with the current sample—perceived behavioral control did not predict seeking intention significantly.
Inoculating against confusion and restoring confidence in vaccinations: A mental models approach to risk communication • Valarie Bell Wright, The College of Charleston; Heather Woolwine; Amanda Ruth-McSwain, College of Charleston; Margaret White, College of Charleston; Jennifer Lockhart, College of Charleston • Child vaccinations are considered a necessary precaution in safeguarding society by eliminating or reducing the occurrence of several potentially deadly diseases. While there is clear consensus amongst the medical community that vaccinations are critical, there exists some discrepancy in the importance and effects associated with vaccinations throughout the parent community. A parent’s decision to vaccinate is often complicated by fear or apprehension. As such, a mental models approach was used to guide the present study in an attempt to identify the gaps between expert knowledge and nonexpert (parents) understanding of the risks associated with child vaccinations. The results provide the framework for an informed message strategy to assuage fears as well as to provide research-based risk information regarding childhood vaccinations.
News Media’s Treatment of HPV Vaccination in Males: Analysis of U.S. Newspapers and Health Websites • Kang Hoon Sung, University of Florida; Kathryn Gerlach, University of Florida • In October 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil, a vaccine for the prevention of four types of human papillomavirus (HPV), for use in boys and men. No studies to date have been conducted to determine the manner in which mainstream media outlets frame vaccination of this particular segment of the population. The current study explores how the media have, thus far, presented this controversial issue. Analyses revealed a total of three dominant frames, which the media employed to present the issue of male HPV vaccination. These frames were: 1) Uncertainty, 2) Unreasonable cost and Vaccines as revenue creators, and 3) Opposition and Controversy.
“There would be no peace for me if I kept silent:” A discourse analysis of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring • Melissa Thompson • Rachel Carson’s novel Silent Spring is often singled out as beginning the modern environmental movement. This paper explores the discourse of the novel itself, the sociocultural environment of the U.S. in the early 1960s, and the institution of literary journalism to draw conclusions about why the novel left such an impression on readers and lawmakers. The paper concludes that the manner in which Carson was able to frame the issue of pesticide use left a lasting impression on the upper middle-class readers who were likely to have read the work and taken up the book’s call to action.
News Valence and Attribution of Responsibility in a Cross-National Study of TV News Coverage of the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen • Jiun-Yi Tsai, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Xuan Liang, Department of Life Science Communication; Magda Konieczna; Kristine Mattis, Environment and Resources Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies • This research examines how valence of media frames reflects cross-country differences in journalistic norms and national stakes on attribution of responsibility for climate change for alleviating global climate change. By analyzing prime-time television news in three major countries-the United States, China and Canada during the 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen, we capture the media presentation of the overall valence toward the conference negotiation, home country’s performance, and foreign countries’ performance. The results indicate that the news media of the three countries commonly presented negative assessments throughout the Copenhagen conference. The news media valued their home country’s performance and foreign countries’ performance differently. The relationship between treatment responsibility in the home country and its country performance significantly differed cross the three countries. Reporters and anchors demonstrated national differences in overall tone of messages.
Competing with the conventional wisdom: Newspaper coverage of medical overtreatment • Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida College of Journalism & Communications; Jennifer Braddock, University of Florida • Overtesting and overtreatment in health care has had serious consequences, economically and physically, for an American public constantly in search of ways to maintain or regain good health. This qualitative content analysis considered examined the framing of overtreatment in four elite U.S. newspapers. Three frames emerged from the analysis: uncertainty on the part of physicians and patients, the costs of unnecessary medical tests and procedures, including their causes, and legal issues, including malpractice and fraud.
How will College Newspapers Frame a Pandemic? • Allison Weidhaas, University of South Florida • This paper explores how student reporters frame the risk of an infectious disease in their student newspapers. The researcher conducted a content analysis of 12 student newspapers selected from a multi-stage sample in the fall of 2009 to determine if students accurately present the level of risk. The findings indicate that as the potential personal risk of H1N1 increased, the students attempted to reduce anxiety by offering reassuring messages.
On-line Environmental Engagement among Youth: Influences of Parents, Attitudes and Demographics • Rob Wicks, University of Arkansas; Myria Allen; Stephanie Schulte, University of Arkansas • A national stratified quota sample of 1,096 parents and their children between the ages of 12 and 17 was conducted to investigate the factors that may be related to young people’s efforts to persuade members of their on-line social networks to be more environmental. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, while parents seem to influence youth behavior, the greatest variance in behavior was not explained by parents but by, among others, environmental self-efficacy, environmental news consumption, political interest, time spent online, and environmental consumerism. The regression model explained more of the variance in the girls’ online environmental advocacy than the boys’.
Construing health message framing: Motivational systems, valence of framing and event tendency of framing • Changmin Yan, Washington State University • Through a 2 (motivational systems: approach/avoidance) by 4 (framing: gain, no loss, loss and no gain) mixed design, this study tested two competing views on health message framing, i.e., the valence perspective and the event tendency view and their interactions with approach or avoidance motivational systems. Although empirical data favored both views when motivational systems were not considered, after adding motivational systems as a moderating variable, only the event tendency mediation model was supported.
Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Preventive Behaviors against H1N1: A US-Singapore Comparison • Zheng Yang, SUNY at Buffalo; Jennifer Allen Catellier; Shirley S. Ho; May O. Lwin • This study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior to examine individuals’ intention to adopt preventive behaviors against the H1N1 influenza in the United States and in Singapore. Given the potential risks involved, an alternative measurement strategy is employed to assess attitude. Results suggest that past behavior, news deliberation, and favorable attitude were significant predictors of behavioral intention in both samples. However, societal-level risk perception and subjective norm had different influence between the two samples.
Framing HBV — Newspaper Coverage of HBV in China in 2009 • Chun Yang; Chunbo Ren, Washington State University • This paper focuses on newspapers’ coverage of hepatitis B in general and hepatitis B stigmatization during 2009 in mainland China. Medical treatment, HBV stigma, and anti-stigma efforts were the three main aspects highlighted by newspapers. Although Chinese newspaper coverage was positive with regards to anti-stigma efforts, newspapers placed responsibility on the individual to initiate anti-stigma activities. Additionally, newspapers contributed to the construction of HBV stigma by adopting stigmatizing terms among articles that supported anti-stigma efforts.
Toward A Theoretical Understanding of Using Online Health Communities: Motivation, Ability, and Doctor-Patient Communication Satisfaction • Yinjiao Ye • Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model and the behavioral of health services use, this study explores various correlates of participation in online health groups, including health-involvement variables, ability to use online health support groups, and consumer satisfaction with communication with health professionals and with health care received. The 2007 Health Information National Trend Survey data were analyzed. Results showed that controlling for demographics, health involvement variables, such as family cancer history and psychological health were significant. Also, consumer satisfaction with doctor-patient communication was marginally significant. This study adds to the literature by offering a conceptual understanding of use of online peer-to-peer health support; that is, motivation and ability to use online health information are important, and communication with online peers is pursued when communication with health professionals is less satisfactory.
Effects of Communication on Colorectal Cancer Screening: Revisited Health Belief Model • Woohyun Yoo, University of Wisconsin – Madison; MinWoo Kwon, University of Wisconsin at Madison • The Health Belief Model (HBM) has been the most commonly used in predicting individuals’ cancer screening behaviors. Numerous studies have investigated the role of communication as cue to behavior of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) screening in the HBM, but there is still a lack of research of the effect of communication in the HBM to predict CRC screening behaviors. Communication has a strong potential to play more influential and various roles in influencing CRC screening behaviors. Thus, this study explores how communication influences the behavior-making process of CRC screening on the basis of the HBM. Our findings suggest that communication has an impact on the components inherent in the HBM as well as the effect on CRC screening exert via the mechanism of the HBM.
Effects of Negative Exemplars of Celebrity Smoking on College Students’ Smoking • Woohyun Yoo, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Albert Gunther, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Most anti-smoking efforts have focused on adolescent smoking, and relatively little attention has been paid specifically to prevent college students’ smoking. Negative news stories on celebrity smoking increase the risk perception of smoking and they attract people’s attention to the problem inherent in smoking. From the point of view of the exemplification theory, this kind of news can be considered as an exemplar that influences individual assessment of smoking risk as well as contingent apprehension that motivates smoking avoidance and anti-smoking behavior. This study examines the effect of the negative exemplars of celebrity smoking in health news on college students’ perceived risk of smoking and smoking intentions. Our findings supported that negative exemplars of celebrity smoking have a strong impact on college students’ smoking. In addition, the effects are moderated by smoking status. Ever-smokers who read smoking news with negative exemplars of celebrity smoking are more likely to report higher levels of perceived risk of smoking and lower levels of smoking intentions, but never-smokers do not show the patterns
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