Mixed Messages: II. Outcomes Associated with the Proportion and Placement of Negative Statements in Support Messages.

Few studies on emotional support have investigated mixed messages - instances when emotional support messages contain both positive and negative statements. Although researchers have recognized that mixed messages occur, most supportive communication research has ignored these ambivalent messages. We contend based on the negativity bias that the more negative statements that occur in an emotional support message, the less effective the message is. To test this possibility, we presented cancer patients (N = 417) with messages that consisted of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, or 80% negative statements. Patients rated the messages on five variables: message effectiveness, affective improvement, supporter competence, likelihood to seek future support, and being better off if the supporter had said nothing. A significant positive linear trend occurred for all five variables. The results suggest that the presence and amount of negative statements within an emotional support message has a considerable influence on the recipient's perception of the message and supporter. From a practical standpoint, the results suggest that cancer patients' supporters should act cautiously when communicating negative statements within supportive messages, as even a brief negative statement may cause irreparable damage to the overall quality of a support message.

Co-Rumination of Fat Talk and Weight Control Practices: An Application of Confirmation Theory.

Grounded in confirmation theory, the current research sought to explore the relationship between co-rumination of fat talk and weight control practices (i.e., binging and purging, exercising, and healthy eating behaviors), with a particular interest in whether perceptions of friends' responses during these interactions exacerbate or mitigate this relationship. Female friendship dyads completed online questionnaires at three time points across 2 weeks. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that (a) co-rumination was positively associated with binging and purging and exercising, (b) women who perceived their friends as accepting reported less binging and purging, more exercising, and more healthy eating behaviors,

Implementation of tobacco cessation quitline practices in the United States and Canada.

OBJECTIVES: We examined relationships between implementation of tobacco quitline practices, levels of evidence of practices, and quitline reach and spending. METHODS: In June and July 2009, a total of 176 quitline funders and providers in the United States and Canada completed a survey on quitline practices, in particular quitline-level implementation for the reported practices. From these data, we selected and categorized evidence-based and emerging quitline practices by the strength of the evidence for each practice to increase quitline efficacy and reach. RESULTS: The proportion of quitlines implementing each practice ranged from 3% (text messaging) to 92% (providing a multiple-call protocol). Implementation of practices showing higher levels of evidence for increasing either reach or efficacy showed moderate but significant positive correlations with both reach outcomes and spending levels. The strongest correlation was between reach outcomes and spending levels (r=0.80; P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: The strong relationship between quitline spending and reach reinforces the need to increase quitline funding to levels commensurate with national cessation goals.

Assessing the preconditions for communication influence on decision making: the North American Quitline Consortium.

The network of North American quitlines is a loose confederation of telephone-based smoking cessation professionals, including smoking cessation counseling providers, funders, researcher and policy advocates. Each quitline has some leeway in the types of services it provides, and the purpose of this article is to identify factors that explain such choices. Representatives from quitline organizations responded to a survey regarding the importance of several items that were hypothesized to influence general intentions to adopt and implement new cessation methods. Results indicate that internal (to the quitline) constraints are positively associated with consensus processes and that implementation of practices in general was more likely if consensus processes were used. Unilateral decision making (one person within an organization makes decisions for the quitline on his/her own) was unrelated to either internal or external constraints and was negatively associated with adoption of quitline practices. Discussion focuses on factors that influence consensus decision-making processes beyond those investigated in the article.