The Influence of Family Communication Patterns and Identity Frames on Perceived Collective Psychological Ownership and Intentions to Share Health Information.

An experimental study exposed participants (N = 299) to different message frames to investigate whether Family Communication Patterns (FCP) and message characteristics influenced willingness to communicate about Family Health History (FHH). Message frames were either collective (our), individual (mine), or control (no pronouns). Afterward, participants were asked about their perceived collective psychological ownership of health information, attitudes, subjective norms, and FHH communication intentions. Although the message frames had no impact on perceived collective psychological ownership of health information, conversation orientation and conformity orientation (respecting parental authority) were positively associated with perceived collective psychological ownership of health information. Additionally, perceived collective psychological ownership, attitudes, and subjective norms were found to have indirect effects between FCP and FHH communication intentions. These findings provide further support that FCP influences how health message appeals are processed and suggest interventions could be tailored to FCP orientations for effective FHH behaviors.

Countering Narrative Misinformation: Investigating the Effects of Narrative Corrections and Character Trust on Story-Related Knowledge of HPV.

Guided by the entertainment overcoming resistance model (EORM), participants (N = 334) were exposed to narrative correction strategies designed to reduce reliance on a character that portrayed misinformation about HPV within a narrative. In a 2 × 2 experiment, participants were randomly assigned to either read a warning about an untrustworthy character or a description of the show and to view a post-show video where hosts discussed the motives and actions of that character or a control clip. Both narrative correction strategies reduced individuals' trust of the protagonist and, in turn, increased the number of correct answers on an HPV knowledge test. Identification moderated the indirect relationship between exposure to the post-show discussion and HPV knowledge. For those who reported greater identification with the protagonist, the post-show discussion reduced character trust whereas those who reported low identification were not impacted by this narrative correction strategy. The effect of the pre-show warning did not depend on level of identification. The results build on previous studies concerning narrative correction strategies as well as extend the EORM to narrative correction outcomes.

Eudaimonic Testimonial Vs. Didactic Presentation Impact on Willingness to Engage in Conversations about End-of-Life Care: The Moderating Role of Modeling.

Using the mediated wisdom of experience (MWOE) theoretical framework, this study examines how eudaimonic testimonials versus comparable didactic presentations, and the presence or absence of modeling target behavior, influence death acceptance and intentions to converse about end-of-life care preferences. Effects for testimonials on attitudes and behaviors proved contingent on modeling. When testimonials incorporated modeled behavior, individuals were more likely to intend to carry out conversations about end-of-life conversations. However, when the testimonials did not provide modeled examples of conversations about death, individuals were more likely to experience anxiety and less likely to intend to engage in such conversations. Mediation analyses found that testimonials indirectly increased attitudes and intentions to have end-of-life conversations through emotional range and death acceptance. Mediation analyses also indicated modeling such conversations increased attitudes and intentions toward having end-of-life conversations via identification and self-efficacy.

The Influence of Family Communication Patterns on the Processing of Messages to Increase Family Health History Seeking Intentions.

The current study extends family communication patterns (FCP) research to assess how family communication schemata (conversation and conformity orientation dimensions) influence systematic processing of health appeals intended to persuade individuals to seek family health history information, emphasizing an updated conceptualization of family conformity (i.e., the expanded conformity orientation scale). Our results suggest that conversation orientation and the conformity dimension of parental control are the primary drivers of systematic processing of family health history messages. Systematic processing, in turn, was significantly associated with more positive attitudes and greater intentions to seek health information from family members. Our results suggest family communication patterns may impact individual engagement with family health history campaign messages, thus campaign designers may want to consider how best to tailor messages to match family communication characteristics.

You can['t] catch the sun in a net!: Children's misinterpretations of educational science television.

Many science television shows feature refutation narratives where characters speculate about the value of scientific misconceptions (e.g., the sun circles the earth) before learning factual information. Previous research suggests that young children misunderstand these stories, and the current study examined whether learning could be improved using interventions previously validated with adults. Children (N = 201) aged 4-7 years viewed a refutation narrative in its original form or in a modified format that lacked misconceptions or that contextualized those misconceptions with additional scaffolds. Although children's comprehension of factual information was high across all conditions, their understanding of misconceptions depended on their prior knowledge. Specifically, children with low prior knowledge mistakenly identified misconceptions as intended factual lessons unless they viewed the story without misconceptions or with two forms of additional scaffolding. Conversely, children with high prior knowledge understood the original story best. These findings suggest that the inclusion of fantasy ideas in children's science programming can disrupt learning for certain children and bolster learning for others.

From Screen to Screening: Entertainment and News Television Media Effects on Cancer Screening Behaviors.

The complementary effects of genre-specific media use and information-seeking behaviors on cancer prevention behaviors have been understudied in cancer communication literature. A secondary analysis of the Annenberg National Health Communication Survey (ANHCS) was conducted to investigate the effects of two types of televised media content (i.e., news and entertainment programs) on three types of cancer screening behaviors through active health information seeking behavior (HISB) from other mass media. The results show that routine entertainment and news television viewing significantly predicted HISB above and beyond demographic variables and perceived health status. HISB partially mediated the effects of entertainment and news television viewing on colon cancer and breast cancer screening behaviors (i.e., sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, mammogram) while fully mediating their effects on prostate cancer screening behavior (PSA). Future advocacy efforts should continue to use mass media like television to raise awareness of various types of cancer and preventative measures. Additionally, more collaborations should be conducted between public health professionals and content creators to design effective health content on promoting cancer prevention behaviors on mass media platforms.