Black Queer Being/Knowing/Feeling: Storytelling of Barriers to Reproductive Healthcare.

Anti-Blackness and heteronormativity are the driving forces that determine access to reproductive healthcare and services in the United States, and the rate of Black birthing-related deaths continue to skyrocket. Still, there is a dearth of literature that includes the reproductive experiences of Black birthing people and their interactions with the healthcare system. This current study builds power with 10 Black Queer birthing people (or Partners) by centering on their gestation-based storytelling within discourse about reproduction. By blending these Partners' self-examination of their lived experiences with gestation with health research, Black feminism, and researcher interpretation of their stories, this study reveals the unparalleled truths of Black Queer reproduction. Six thematic areas within the healthcare system as experienced by Partners are explored. Additionally, through this disruptive approach, this study identifies the lived and material needs that necessitate reproductive justice for all.

Gender Moderates the Relationship Between Avatar Customization and Enjoyment in Popular Video Games.

Using online survey methods (n = 153), this study investigates whether exposure to different levels of customization in games will increase the experiences of enjoyment, both directly and indirectly, through the experience of avatar embodiment, as well as whether these relationships are influenced by gender identity. Results indicate a positive relationship between level of exposure to customization and enjoyment for women-identified participants. These outcomes may provide insight into gendered preference in gaming, potentially providing an avenue by which to make games more inclusive to women gamers.

Evaluating and Tracking Qualitative Content Coder Performance Using Item Response Theory.

Content analysis of traditional and social media has a central role in investigating features of media content, measuring media exposure, and calculating calculation of media effects. The reliability of content coding is usually evaluated using "Kappa-like" agreement measures, but these measures produce results that aggregate individual coder decisions, which obscure the performance of individual coders. Using a data set of 105 advertisements for sports and energy drinks media content coded by five coders, we demonstrate that Item Response Theory can track coder performance over time and give coder-specific information on the consistency of decisions over qualitatively coded objects. We conclude that IRT should be added to content analysts' tool kit of useful methodologies to track and measure content coders' performance.

Urban Youth Perceptions of Sports and Energy Drinks: Insights for Health Promotion Messaging.

Objective: This study aimed to examine urban adolescents' beliefs about sports and energy drinks to identify factors for health messaging to discourage youth consumption. Design: Focus group study involving thirty-four adolescents in urban areas (12 female, 12 male, and 10 unreported sex; 19 Hispanic, 11 Non-Hispanic Black, 2 Asian, and 1 unknown race or ethnicity). Setting: Four focus groups were conducted with adolescents in urban areas. Method: Each on-time moderated group discussion was structured to generate an inventory of attitudinal, normative and efficacy beliefs associated with sports and energy drink consumption and reduction. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Attitudinal and normative beliefs were more positive towards sports drink consumption and energy drink reduction. Misperceptions about the need for sports drinks to avoid dehydration during physical activity were evident. Product accessibility and advertising pervasiveness were facilitators influencing consumption and barriers to reduction for both products. Conclusion: Results highlight important differences in perceptions about sports and energy drinks that indicate the need for different approaches and messages for interventions designed to curb consumption of these products. Recommendations for message design are provided.

The Consumption of Animal and Plant Foods in Areas of High Prevalence of Stroke and Colorectal Cancer.

Diets of red and processed meat have been reported as important risk factors for developing colorectal cancer. Given the racial and ethnic differences in the incidence of colorectal cancer, patterns of food consumption, and areas of residence, particularly in the South, more data is needed on the relationship between residing in a high stroke area, colorectal cancer incidence levels, and red meat and processed meat consumption. We created online surveys to ascertain meat, red meat, and healthy food consumption levels. We used OLS regression to evaluate the association between residence in Stroke Belt states and colorectal cancer incidence quartiles with food consumption. We further used path analysis using structural equation modeling to evaluate if age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, and comorbidity index mediated the association between residence in the eight-state Stroke Belt, colorectal cancer incidence groups, and meat consumption. Our sample included 923 participants, with 167 (18.1%) residing in the Stroke Belt and 13.9% being in the highest colorectal cancer incidence group. The findings show that residing in a Stroke Belt state is predictive of the consumption of overall meat 0.93 more days per week or red meat 0.55 more days per week compared to those not residing in a Stroke Belt state. These data can be used to develop future diet interventions in these high-risk areas to reduce rates of colorectal cancer and other negative health outcomes.

Reducing Unhealthy Normative Behavior: The Case of Sports and Energy Drinks.

American adolescents consume more sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) than any other age group. Sports and energy drinks consumption among adolescents is higher than other SSBs. For sports drinks, there is uncertainty about their "healthiness" and also beliefs that these drinks may provide health benefits such as hydration, enhanced athletic performance, heightened mental alertness, and rapid recovery after exercise. Confusion about relative healthiness and expectations of health benefits suggest that factors that may encourage youth to avoid drinking sports and energy drinks, such as athletic status, psychological reactance, and SSB media literacy, may necessitate different approaches to promoting avoidance of sports drinks compared with avoidance of energy drinks. Using a nationally representative U.S. probability-based web panel augmented by a volunteer nonprobability-based web panel of 500 adolescent participants aged 14 to 18 years, we used the reasoned action approach to model intention to avoid sports and to avoid energy drinks. The result show there are similarities and differences in the determinants associated with adolescents' avoidance of sports and energy drinks: attitudes and descriptive normative pressure are both related to increased avoidance for both types of drinks and perceived control over the avoidance behavior is positively associated for with intention to avoid for energy drinks. Sport identification, psychological reactance, and SSB media literacy also play a different role in the sports and energy drink models. Based on our results, the content of prevention messages in interventions to limit sports drinks will need to be quite different from those targeted at reducing energy drink consumption.

Perceptions of Sports and Energy Drinks: Factors Associated with Adolescent Beliefs.

PURPOSE: To understand what factors are associated with adolescents' perceived healthfulness of sports drinks (SD) and of energy drinks (ED), with a focus on health risk, athletics, and media-related variables. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Online. SUBJECTS: U.S. adolescents ages 14-18 years (n = 501) recruited from a combination of non-probability and probability-based panels. MEASURES: Outcome variables were perceived healthfulness of SDs and of EDs. Independent variables included adolescents' health background (oral health, diabetes risk, self-reported weight); behaviors (SD and ED consumption, athletic identity, sports participation, physical activity), and media items (media literacy, exposure to advertisements on TV, YouTube, social media). RESULTS: Regression results indicated that adolescents' increased perception that SDs are healthy was significantly associated (P<.05 level) with casual sports participation (b=.56, se=.27), athletic identification (b=.28, se= .11), exposure to SD advertisements on social media (b=.55, s =.25), and higher consumption (b=.28, se= .13). For adolescents' perceptions of EDs, significantly related correlates included athletic identification (b=.26, se=10), having an increased risk of diabetes (b= -.79, s =.26), poorer oral health (b=.33, se=.16), and consumption (b=.76, s =.16); increased media literacy was associated with more accurate perceptions (b=-.35, se=.14). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' hold different perceptions about the healthfulness of sports and energy drink, and their beliefs about each drink are related to different types of factors that may have implications for public health interventions. Cross-sectional survey design and adolescent self-reports are limitations.

Athletes Drink Gatorade: DMA Advertising Expenditures, Ad Recall, and Athletic Identity Influence Energy and Sports Drink Consumption.

Understanding why sports and energy drinks remain increasingly popular among adolescents despite declines in other sugar sweetened beverages is critical. This study points to memory for advertising exposure and adolescent athletic identity as two aspects that together help to explain consumption. An online survey of U.S. adolescents aged 14-18 (n = 503) was combined with Nielsen data for television and social media advertising expenditures by sports and energy drink brands in participants' designated market areas (DMAs). Advertisement recall mediates the relationship between social media DMA expenditures and sports and energy drink consumption. Recall for television advertisements is related to consumption but is unrelated to television DMA expenditures. Athletic identity moderated the relationship between recall and consumption such that consumption increased as both recall and athletic identity increased, suggesting a role for motivated memory and motivated processing of ad messages based on athletic identity consistent with the limited capacity model of motivated media message processing. Based on these results, we conclude that effectiveness of expenditures in influencing behavior is dependent upon both ad recall and ad relevance, and that athletic identity is an important factor in ad effectiveness in the context of sports and energy drinks advertising.

A Qualitative Content Analysis of Caregiver Reports of Conversations with Their Children about Vaccinations.

Low childhood vaccination rates are associated with recent outbreaks of serious preventable diseases. However, prior research suggests that parent-physician communication may not be sufficient for increasing caregivers' intentions to follow the recommended vaccination schedule. Children sometimes play a role in the health decisions caregivers make on their behalf. Yet there is little research on the communication between caregivers and children about vaccinations and their influence on caregivers' vaccine decisions. The objectives of this study were to explore caregivers' conversations with their children about vaccinations and to examine how these conversations differed by child's vaccination status. 376 caregivers provided open-ended descriptions of a memorable conversation they'd had with their child about vaccinations. Qualitative content analysis revealed five key themes and four sub-themes mentioned by caregivers when discussing these conversations. Results suggest that most caregivers are discussing vaccines with their children. However, the topics discussed by caregivers who choose not to vaccinate and who vaccinate on a delayed schedule were quite different from those who fully or partially vaccinate their children. Understanding these different patterns of conversation themes can provide valuable insight for targeted intervention campaigns and messaging strategies.

I'm Lovin' It: How Fast Food Advertising Influences Meat-Eating Preferences.

Overconsumption of red and processed meat is associated with a multitude of negative health outcomes. Previous research shows exposure to advertising messaging can influence dietary behaviors but research on the influence of meat advertising on diet, specifically, is scant. Theoretically informed by the Reasoned Action Approach, the present experiment randomly assigned participants to view a version of a print McDonald's advertisement that included meat imagery (a Big Mac), non-meat imagery (French fries), or no food (just the McDonalds' logo and slogan), which acted as a control. An online survey in the United States included 514 U.S. adults (Mage = 51 years). Participants exposed to meat imagery compared to the non-meat imagery reported a higher desire to eat meat. The meat imagery and control conditions were also significantly associated with increased cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, compared to when respondents were shown the no-meat condition. Desire to eat meat, but not the cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, was significantly associated with attitude, normative pressure, and perceived behavioral control for avoiding eating meat one day per week; these constructs predicted intention and willingness to avoid meat. Results indicate that exposure to meat imagery in advertising does have the potential to influence meat consumption behavior and also has implications for the use of meat imagery in persuasive messaging for public health campaigns.

A content analysis of sports and energy drink advertising.

This study identifies constructs from key persuasion theories that are present in popular sports and energy drink advertising. A theory-driven content analysis was conducted on 315 popular television and social media sports and energy drink advertisements from top selling brands. The advertisements were analyzed for the presence of persuasive cues as per the Elaboration Likelihood Model (e.g, onscreen consumption, presence of celebrities) as well as Reasoned Action behavioral expectancies and normative beliefs Approach related to consumption. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Differences between sports and energy drinks were assessed and reliability statistics for all codes were calculated. Advertisements relied on peripheral cues like sports and celebrities that were not related to the drinks themselves. Theory-relevant beliefs about improved athletic performance and consumption of the drinks onscreen were common. Sports drinks were more likely to focus on mainstream sports; energy drinks featured extreme sports, and energy drink advertisements promoted the drinks for use beyond sports (e.g., work settings). The cues and beliefs identified in these ads help to clarify the role of advertising in beliefs about sports drinks being healthy and energy drinks being helpful to achieve goals. Future research is needed that links exposure to coded advertisement features to adolescents' beliefs about sports and energy drinks.

The complicated impact of media use before bed on sleep: Results from a combination of objective EEG sleep measurement and media diaries.

Media use has been linked to sleep disturbance, but the results are inconsistent. This study explores moderating conditions. A media diary study with 58 free-living adults measured the time spent with media before bed, the location of use, and multitasking. Electroencephalography (EEG) captured bedtime, total sleep time, and the percent of time spent in deep (Stage N3), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Media use in the hour before sleep onset was associated with an earlier bedtime. If the before bed use did not involve multitasking and was conducted in bed, that use was also associated with more total sleep time. Media use duration was positively associated with (later) bedtime and negatively associated with total sleep time. Sleep quality, operationalised as the percent of total sleep time spent in N3 and REM sleep, was unaffected by media use before bed. Bedtime media use might not be as detrimental for sleep as some previous research has shown. Important contextual variables moderate the relationship, such as location, multitasking, and session length.

Looking ahead: Caregivers' COVID-19 vaccination intention for children 5 years old and younger using the health belief model.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a significant public health issue. While vaccines are not yet available for children, clinical trials are underway, and children will likely be an important factor in the U.S. reaching herd immunity. However, little research has been conducted to examine parents' intention to vaccinate their young children for COVID-19. METHOD: An online survey with a national U.S. sample of 682 primary caregivers of children under age six assessed variables associated with intention to accept the COVID-19 vaccine for their children from November 13, 2020, to December 8, 2020. RESULTS: Caregivers whose child received a recent influenza vaccine, as well as those with previous experience COVID-19, were more likely to express COVID-19 vaccination intention for their young child. Identifying as female was associated with lower COVID-19 vaccination intention, while identifying as Hispanic or Latino was associated with higher intention. Health Belief Model variables of perceived severity of COVID-19 for their child, as well as vaccine confidence, were positive predictors of COVID-19 vaccine intention and mediated the relationship between prior behavior, demographic variables, and intention. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the importance of early, proactive COVID-19 vaccination education efforts directed at caregivers, including those with young children. Vaccines for young children will likely become a necessary part of ending the pandemic's impact in school settings. Operationally, COVID-19 vaccination may also become a part of childhood vaccination schedules. Understanding the beliefs and intentions of caregivers of young children before vaccinations are recommended for children will enable public health officials and medical practitioners to prepare in advance.

Parents' Behaviors and Experiences Associated with Four Vaccination Behavior Groups for Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy.

OBJECTIVES: Increasing vaccine hesitancy and decreasing acceptance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommended schedule for childhood vaccines represent a crucial public health issue. The present study directly compares vaccine acceptance behavior across four different groups: those who are fully accepting of the CDC-recommended schedule, those who are accepting but on a delayed schedule, those who only partially vaccinate, and those who do not vaccinate at all. METHODS: A total of 779 adults residing in the United States with at least one child under the age of 18 years participated in an online survey. RESULTS: Logistic and Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses revealed clear differences between the vaccination behavior groups on a variety of demographic, psychographic, and behavioral metrics. Results suggest financial and insurance-related barriers still hinder full vaccination, and there are differences by race, ethnicity, and educational attainment. Sources of information about vaccines also differed by vaccination behavior group, with those who never vaccinate more likely to rely on friends and family for information. Finally, those whose child experienced what the parent interpreted as an adverse reaction to a previous vaccine, even if that reaction was within the bounds of "normal", were more likely to report they delay or partially vaccinate. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: These results have implications for public health policy and intervention campaigns, in particular that two-step flow campaigns and increased knowledge of normal vaccine side effects may ameliorate some vaccine hesitancy.

Family and Cultural Perceptions About Meat Consumption among Hispanic/Latino and White Adults in the United States.

The study examines the extent to which Hispanic/Latino Americans and non-Hispanic White Americans report that meat is an important aspect of their cultural beliefs and practices. An online national survey was completed using quota sampling to recruit approximately equal groups of U.S. Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic White Americans (n = 512). A path model predicting willingness to reduce meat consumption was estimated. Hispanic/Latino Americans viewed meat as a more integral aspect of their cultural food practices, and reported that meat dishes comprise a higher percentage of their culture's traditional foods. Cultural beliefs were associated with meat consumption and willingness to reduce meat consumption.

Problematic social media use and social support received in real-life versus on social media: Associations with depression, anxiety and social isolation.

Social media platforms allow people to connect with each other and obtain social rewards. In some individuals, these reinforcing rewards can induce maladaptive, problematic social media use, with symptoms similar to substance use disorders. This problematic social media use has been associated with poorer mental health. Previous studies have demonstrated that social support can protect against poor mental health. People can receive social support both in real-life and on social media, however, so we investigated whether these two types of social support mediate the relationship between problematic social media use and poor mental health. We conducted an online survey, collecting measures of problematic social media use and mental health (depression, anxiety, and social isolation), as well as measures of real-life social support and social support received on social media. We then performed a path analysis on these data. Our analysis revealed that problematic social media use was significantly associated with decreased real-life social support and increased social support on social media. Importantly, real-life social support was then associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and social isolation, while social support on social media was not associated with these mental health measures. Our findings reveal the value of real-life social support when considering the relationship between problematic social media use and mental health. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Sex and Violence in the Movies: Empathy as a Moderator of the Exposure-Behavior Relationship in Adolescents.

Sexual and violent media content is prevalent, and adolescents exposed to this content may be more likely to enact risky sexual and aggressive behaviors. According to the Differential Susceptibility Model, dispositional traits, such as empathy, can predict risky media exposure and moderate the relationship between exposure and behavior. A total of 2,424 US adolescents (ages 14-17) participated in an online study that measured exposure to sex, violence, and their co-occurrence from the same character in a list of movies content analyzed for sex and violence. The survey outcomes of interest included adolescent sexual behavior, aggressive behavior, and both behaviors together, as well as empathy, which was included as a moderator. The exposure to movie character behavior was matched to adolescents' survey responses. Results showed that empathy was a predictor of media exposure to sex and violence in movies, and was a moderator of the exposure-behavior relationship. The exposure-behavior relationship was moderated by empathy, such that empathy had an ameliorating effect on the exposure-behavior relationship, but did not negate it completely. This study furthers our understanding of how exposure to sexual and violent content in media, combined with individual differences, may play a role in adolescent enactment of risky behaviors.

The Mediating Role of Family and Cultural Food Beliefs on the Relationship between Family Communication Patterns and Diet and Health Issues across Racial/Ethnic Groups.

Consumption of red meat has been linked to a variety of health issues, yet Americans are resistant to reducing their meat consumption. Family communication environments shape beliefs about food and meat consumption, and therefore are locations for potential interventions to change the way people think about food. Families are embedded in cultures, and both family and cultural norms shape beliefs about what people should eat. This study (N = 773) is interested in understanding how family communication is associated with food beliefs, meat consumption, and health issues across three racial/ethnic groups: Black/African American (n = 256), Hispanic (n = 260), non-Hispanic White (n = 257). Structural equation modeling results showed that conversation orientation was consistently associated with stronger endorsement of family cultural food beliefs across race/ethnicity groups. Family food beliefs were associated with either more health issues or more meat consumption depending on race/ethnicity and mediated the association between conversation orientation and health issues/meat consumption. Conversation orientation moderated the association between conformity orientation and food beliefs for Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants. Implications for family communication patterns theory and health scholars are discussed along with recommendations for culturally tailored family-focused health interventions.

Real-world social support but not in-game social support is related to reduced depression and anxiety associated with problematic gaming.

Playing video games can become problematic, interfering with gamers' daily functioning. This problematic gaming is associated with negative mental health outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. Social support, provided in the real-world, can protect against mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, previous research on gaming has found that real-world social support for gamers often decreases, while within-game social support increases. Importantly, it is currently unknown whether in-game social support can replace real-world social support in protecting problematic gamers from symptoms of depression and anxiety. To address this, we conducted an online survey (n = 361), recruiting participants from both a general university population and an online campus gaming (E-sports) group. We collected measures of problematic gaming, depression, anxiety, and both real-world and in-game social support, and then conducted a path analysis. In line with previous research, problematic gaming was significantly associated with decreased real-world social support and increased in-game social support. However, only real-world social support was then associated with reduced depression and anxiety, while in-game social support was unrelated to both. Problematic gaming also retained a significant direct effect on depression and anxiety. Maintaining real-world social support should be encouraged in the face of problematic gaming behaviors.

Problematic social media use is associated with increased risk-aversion after negative outcomes in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task.

Around the world, people display maladaptive, problematic use of online social networking sites (SNSs), like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. The symptoms of this problematic SNS use are similar to symptoms of substance use and behavioral addictive disorders, such as relapse when attempting to quit. Individuals with substance use and behavioral addictive disorders also display increased risk-taking when making decisions, but little research has investigated decision making with respect to problematic SNS use. We therefore assessed risky decision making and problematic SNS use by utilizing the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). In line with previous research on behavioral addictive disorders, we hypothesized that greater problematic SNS use would be linked with greater risk-taking. To address our hypothesis, we conducted three studies in which we administered the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale to assess problematic SNS use and related scores to BART performance. Collectively, and counter to our initial hypothesis, we found a negative association between problematic SNS use and risk-taking. Specifically, the more problematic one's SNS use, the less risk they took, but this risk aversion only occurred after receiving negative feedback on previous decisions and then encountering a situation with less actual risk. Implications of this novel finding are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).