Using Technology Adoption Theory and a Lifespan Approach to Develop a Theoretical Framework for eHealth Literacy: Extending UTAUT.

Advancements in health information technology (HealthIT) and the electronic exchanges of health information have "revolutionized" health systems in the US. However, adopting technological developments into the healthcare system has the potential to benefit populations with more resources, further exacerbating health status disparities. Efficacious utilization of HealthIT requires eHealth literacy. Although eHealth literacy is comprised of six factors, new research indicates that the components related to technology literacy may be more impactful in eHealth literacy among certain populations (e.g., older populations who shoulder a greater illness-management burden). Recognizing the importance of technology literacy in eHealth literacy across the lifespan, we investigate generational differences in New Communication Technology (NCT) use and eHealth literacy, especially considering how NCT adoption theory might systematically inform scholars' understanding of eHealth literacy. Participants included 525 adults primarily in the Midwestern United States. We found significant differences between generational groups across all variables. We found that UTAUT determinants such as performance expectancy and effort expectancy explained 38% of the variance in eHealth literacy, controlling for age, sex, level of education, and prior online health information seeking. Finally, we engaged with early critiques of UTAUT, finding that when applying UTAUT in voluntary (vs. mandatory) contexts, scholars should reconsider variables previously dismissed, such as attitude. In doing this, we extend UTAUT in three ways: new contexts (voluntary NCT adoption), endogenous theoretical mechanisms (eHealth literacy), and exogenous variables (attitude; lifespan). These findings underscore a need for a targeted approach to improve eHealth literacy and health self-management across generations.

Marketing a health Brand on Facebook: Effects of reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention.

This study examined effects of Facebook reaction icons and user comments on brand attitude, trust, information seeking, purchase intention, and eWOM intention towards a health brand, as well as potential moderating effects of SNS use. Results of a 3 (reaction icons: positive/neutral/negative) × 3 (valence of comments: positive/neutral/negative) between-subjects experiment (N = 306) indicated that positive Facebook reaction icons significantly influenced brand attitude, trust, purchase intention, and eWOM intention, while neutral comments significantly impacted brand attitude and trust. The degree of SNS use also negatively moderated between reaction icon valence and eWOM intention. Implications for health marketing communication are discussed.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Empathic Exchanges in Online Cancer Support Groups: Message Reception and Expression Effects on Patients' Psychosocial Health Outcomes.

Recent studies have devoted attention to the effects of both expression and reception in communication process. However, there remain both theoretical and methodological complexities concerning whether and under what condition message expression and reception play significant but different roles in explaining various psychosocial health outcomes. Relying on theoretical insights from the social support literature and methodological innovations offered by computational social science, this study aims to examine the effects of empathic exchanges on cancer patient's short- and long-term psychosocial health outcomes. Our findings suggest that both empathy expression and reception are crucial to attaining benefits for cancer patients, each predicting differential cognitive and affective health outcomes. Further, our finding supports the stress-buffering hypothesis such that empathy reception provides a beneficial effect for patients who experienced a higher degree of depression associated with their cancer diagnosis and follow-up treatments.

Modelling of the material flow of Nd-Fe-B magnets under high temperature deformation via finite element simulation method.

Hot deformation of Nd-Fe-B magnets has been studied for more than three decades. With a good combination of forming processing parameters, the remanence and (BH)max values of Nd-Fe-B magnets could be greatly increased due to the formation of anisotropic microstructures during hot deformation. In this work, a methodology is proposed for visualizing the material flow in hot-deformed Nd-Fe-B magnets via finite element simulation. Material flow in hot-deformed Nd-Fe-B magnets could be predicted by simulation, which fitted with experimental results. By utilizing this methodology, the correlation between strain distribution and magnetic properties enhancement could be better understood.

Image Framing, Emoticons, and Sharing Intention for Health-Related Posts on Facebook.

In response to calls for greater integration of research on the effects of visual images in the emotional and cognitive processing of health-related posts on Facebook, this study examined the questions of how gain-and-loss framed images, the valence of emoticon responses, and level of personal relevance of health topics contribute toward intentional engagement (e.g., sharing the posts) on Facebook. This study conducted a 2 (visual framing: gain vs. loss) × 2 (personal relevance of health topic: high vs. low) × 2 (emoticon valence: positive vs. negative) mixed-factorial experiment. A total of 187 college students were recruited to assess the impact of visual framing, personal relevance, and emoticon valence on sharing intention. Results showed that negative emoticons led to a higher intention to share health news posts than positive emoticons. Moreover, two parallel mediation models showed that (a) gain-framed images with high-relevance topics positively predicted perceived susceptibility but negatively predicted perceived severity that both positively impacted sharing intention; (b) loss-framed images with low-relevance topics positively predicted perceived severity but negatively predicted perceived susceptibility that both positively impacted the sharing intention. The implications regarding the contribution to the literature of visual framing and emotion on social media engagement and health communication are discussed.

Personality Traits, Motivations, and Emotional Consequences of Social Media Usage.

This study explores social media users' personality traits and motivations for the usage of two different social media platforms, Facebook and Pinterest, as well as how the varied uses impact users' negative emotional experiences. The findings suggest that the intensity of social media usage is positively related to negative emotions. For Facebook users, socialization, entertainment, and information seeking motivations significantly influence their platform use intensity and, subsequently, lead to negative emotions. Self-status seeking also has a direct effect on Facebook users' negative emotions. For Pinterest users, socialization is not a significant motivation for usage of that platform. However, entertainment, information seeking, and self-status seeking significantly predict their platform use intensity, which subsequently lead to negative emotions. Similarly, all four motivations for Facebook and Pinterest uses are influenced by users' personality traits: extraversion and openness. Yet, openness has a greater impact on using Pinterest than Facebook in terms of fulfilling socialization needs. Neuroticism has a positive impact on socialization and information seeking motives for use of both platforms, while conscientiousness and agreeableness have a negative influence on fulfilling self-status seeking needs. In addition, agreeable social networking site users are less likely to use Facebook than Pinterest for fulfilling self-status related gratifications, while they are likely to use Pinterest instead of Facebook for entertainment and information needs. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Predictors of disability-related attitudes: considering self-esteem, communication apprehension, contact, and geographic location.

Individuals' attitudes about persons with disability (PwD) strongly affect differently-abled persons' quality of life and position in society. Some research offers support for the ability of systematic, supported, longitudinal contact between different groups of individuals to improve attitudes. College campuses, in particular, offer a potentially useful arena in which to facilitate this type of contact. This study explored contextual factors (eg, geographic region, biological sex) and predictors of disability-related attitudes among a college student population to determine strategies for course-based intervention design (eg, as community-engaged or service-learning initiatives). Surveying participants from universities in two regions of the United States, we found that self-esteem, audience-based communication apprehension, and contact with PwD explain more than 50% of the variance in disability-related attitudes. Further, we found that geographic location affects both self-esteem and audience-based communication apprehension (communicating/interacting with PwD). We discuss the implications for community engagement and/or service learning and highlight the importance of partnerships among relevant community stakeholders, including university faculty, students, and staff.

Risk factors associated with death in patients with severe respiratory syncytial virus infection.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is an important cause of viral respiratory tract infection in children. This retrospective study describes the clinical characteristics of severe RSV infection and determines the risk factors for death. METHODS: Patients were identified through a review of all patients discharged with a diagnosis of RSV lower respiratory tract infection and admitted to hospital in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary medical center between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2010. The medical and demographic variables were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: The 186 RSV-positive patients admitted to the PICU had a median age of 5.3 months (interquartile range 2.3-12.4 months) and included 129 boys and 57 girls. Among them, 134 had at least one underlying disease: prematurity in 92, neurological disease in 57, bronchopulmonary dysplasia in 40, congenital heart disease in 26, hematological malignancies in 11, and Down's syndrome in nine patients. The 10 patients who died from RSV-related causes had a median age of 20.8 months (interquartile range 6.6-89.2 months) and all had a comorbidity. In multivariate analysis, the risk factors for death in severe RSV infection were Down's syndrome (odds ratio 7.20, 95% confidence interval 1.13-45.76; p = 0.036) and nosocomial RSV infection (odds ratio 4.46, 95% confidence interval 1.09-18.27; p = 0.038). CONCLUSION: Down's syndrome and nosocomial RSV infection are significantly associated with death in severe RSV infections. Clinicians should be alert to these conditions.