A systematic review of school-based alcohol and other drug prevention programs

Background: Alcohol use in adolescents constitutes a major public health concern. Europe is the heaviest drinking region of the world. Several school-based alcohol prevention programs have been developed but it is not clear whether they are really effective. The present study was aimed at identifying the typology with the best evidence of effectiveness in European studies. Methods: A systematic search of meta-analyses and/or randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on interventions school-based prevention programs aimed at preventing alcohol consumption or changing the attitudes to consume alcohol. Results: A meta-analysis published in 2011 and 12 RCTs more recently published were identified. The meta-analysis evaluated 53 RCTs but only 11.3% of them were conducted in Europe. Globally, 23 RCTs (43.4%) showed some evidence of effectiveness, and 30 RCTs (56.6%) did not find significant difference between the groups. According to the conclusions of the meta-analysis, the Unplugged program should be considered as a practice option in Europe. Among the other 12 RCTs, 42% were conducted in Europe. Globally, 7 studies (58.3%) achieved positive results, and 5 studies (41.7%) did not find significant differences or produced a mixed pattern of results. Three of the 5 European trials (60%) used the Unplugged program with positive results. Conclusion: Even if further studies should be conducted to confirm these results, Unplugged appears to be the prevention project with the best evidence of effectiveness in European studies

Does an Intervention Need to be Personalised to be More Effective in Changing Intentions, Motivations, Attitudes and Fear Arousal Towards Sun Protection?

Previous health campaigns promoting sun-safe practices have not been as successful as would have been hoped in reducing the incidences of skin cancer in Australia. In the past, health-based and education-based messages have been used in these interventions to try to reduce the rate of intentional sun exposure. The present literature review concludes that health-based and education-based campaigns have been successful in increasing knowledge regarding the negative consequences of excessive sun exposure, however, what all these campaigns fail to take into consideration is the primary reason behind intentional tanning, which is the fact that people tan because they think it makes them look more attractive and healthy. Recently, interventions using appearance-based messages that counter this view have been examined. Results from an appearance-based approach focusing on attractiveness of tans have been more successful, although are still limited regarding their effect on intentions, motivations, attitudes and fear arousal towards sun protection. The most recent direction research has taken is to show participants what the sun has actually done to their appearance through the use of ultraviolet photographs. The few studies undertaken using this strategy have shown promising results by allowing participants to see the damage, not normally visible to the naked eye, that the sun has already caused. The present literature review concludes that personalising an intervention through the use of ultraviolet photographs in addition to an appearance-based message may be more effective in changing intentions, motivations, attitudes and fear arousal towards sun protection than an appearance-based message that was not personalised

Social comparison and persuasion in health communications

Two basic social processes, persuasion and social comparison, have figured prominently in the development and implementation of health communications since the early 1950s. This chapter reviews relevant theory and evidence from basic persuasion and comparison research to demonstrate the centrality of the self-concept for understanding changes in personal belief, opinion, self-efficacy, and behavior change. Then, selective evidence and implications from health communications research are reviewed: Interventions using self-affirmation; gain-loss framing and graphic warning labels/fear appeals from the persuasion area; and interventions using normative provision, social comparison interventions, and support groups from the comparison area. In the final section, personalized, tailored health-communication approaches that capitalize on both persuasion and comparison paradigms are described. For intervention and public-policy purposes, it is recommended that communications that increase personal relevance, cognitive elaboration, and assimilation to health role-models have the strongest potential for creating lasting health behavior change

Regulatory Activities of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Compliant Buying Decision Of Low and Medium Income Earners in South-East, Nigeria: The Packaged Water Context

The aim of this empirical investigation was to determine the extent to which low and medium income earners in South-East of Nigeria comply, in their food and drug buying decision, with regulation of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for their health benefits. Though, NAFDAC, under Decree No. 20 of 1990, is empowered to regulate and control the manufacture and marketing of certain products in Nigeria, the impact of such regulatory and control practices on the compliant behavior of these consumers seems to be uncertain. Drawing on social marketing theories, in general, and perception theories in consumer behavior, in particular, we argue that consumer compliant buying decisions are linked to NAFDAC regulatory activities. However, from general observation, it seems that much uncertainty still beclouds consumers’ behavioral responses towards products with or without NAFDAC “Seal of Approval Numbers,” on them. Given that this area has suffered a dearth of research till date, this paper represents a latest attempt to explore this uncertainty. Using structured questionnaire, primary data generated from 337 randomly selected low and medium income earners located in major cities of South-East Nigeria, were analyzed using Pearson and simple regression statistics. Some interesting findings were made and discussed in line with the study implications.   Key words: Compliant buying-decision, consultative meetings, NAFDAC Regulatory Activities, Packaged water, product registration, and public enlightenmen

Crime and Social media

Purpose-The study complements the scant macroeconomic literature on the development outcomes of social media by examining the relationship between Facebook penetration and violent crime levels in a cross-section of 148 countries for the year 2012. Design/methodology/approach-The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Tobit and Quantile regressions. In order to respond to policy concerns on the limited evidence on the consequences of social media in developing countries, the dataset is disaggregated into regions and income levels. The decomposition by income levels included: low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high income. The corresponding regions include: Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Findings-From OLS and Tobit regressions, there is a negative relationship between Facebook penetration and crime. However, Quantile regressions reveal that the established negative relationship is noticeable exclusively in the 90th crime decile. Further, when the dataset is decomposed into regions and income levels, the negative relationship is evident in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) while a positive relationship is confirmed for sub-Saharan Africa. Policy implications are discussed. Originality/value- Studies on the development outcomes of social media are sparse because of a lack of reliable macroeconomic data on social media. This study primarily complemented three existing studies that have leveraged on a newly available dataset on Facebook

Neurophysiological Profile of Antismoking Campaigns

Over the past few decades, antismoking public service announcements (PSAs) have been used by governments to promote healthy behaviours in citizens, for instance, against drinking before the drive and against smoke. Effectiveness of such PSAs has been suggested especially for young persons. By now, PSAs efficacy is still mainly assessed through traditional methods (questionnaires and metrics) and could be performed only after the PSAs broadcasting, leading to waste of economic resources and time in the case of Ineffective PSAs. One possible countermeasure to such ineffective use of PSAs could be promoted by the evaluation of the cerebral reaction to the PSA of particular segments of population (e.g., old, young, and heavy smokers). In addition, it is crucial to gather such cerebral activity in front of PSAs that have been assessed to be effective against smoke (Effective PSAs), comparing results to the cerebral reactions to PSAs that have been certified to be not effective (Ineffective PSAs). &e eventual differences between the cerebral responses toward the two PSA groups will provide crucial information about the possible outcome of new PSAs before to its broadcasting. &is study focused on adult population, by investigating the cerebral reaction to the vision of different PSA images, which have already been shown to be Effective and Ineffective for the promotion of an antismoking behaviour. Results showed how variables as gender and smoking habits can influence the perception of PSA images, and how different communication styles of the antismoking campaigns could facilitate the comprehension of PSA’s message and then enhance the related impac

The Influence of Statistical versus Exemplar Appeals on Indian Adults’ Health Intentions: An Investigation of Direct Effects and Intervening Persuasion Processes

In two separate investigations, we examined the persuasive effectiveness of statistical versus exemplar appeals on Indian adults’ smoking cessation and mammography screening intentions. To more comprehensively address persuasion processes, we explored whether message response and perceived message effectiveness functioned as antecedents to persuasive effects. Results showed that statistical appeals led to higher levels of health intentions than exemplar appeals. In addition, findings from both studies indicated that statistical appeals stimulated more attention and were perceived as more effective than anecdotal accounts. Among male smokers, statistical appeals also generated greater cognitive processing than exemplar appeals. Subsequent mediation analyses revealed that message response and perceived message effectiveness fully carried the influence of appeal format on health intentions. Given these findings, future public health initiatives conducted among similar populations should design messages that include substantive factual information while ensuring that this content is perceived as credible and valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER

Creating persuasive messages to promote abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy

While the rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder within Australia are unknown, the rates of alcohol use during pregnancy and at-risk alcohol use by women of childbearing age highlight the need for universal prevention strategies addressing prenatal alcohol exposure. Though many awareness-raising campaigns for alcohol use during pregnancy have been conducted, predominantly in North America, they have rarely been developed using formative research nor have they been comprehensively evaluated (Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, 2009; Elliott et al., 2008). This lack of published information on the development and evaluation of campaigns makes it difficult to determine what communication elements are most credible and persuasive for the target audience. This study conducted theory-based formative research to develop and test messages suitable for a mass media campaign targeting women who may consume low to moderate levels of alcohol during pregnancy. In alignment with the Australian national guidelines for alcohol use by pregnant women (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2009), the aim was to create messages that increased women‟s intentions to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy. An exploratory phase comprising four focus groups with pregnant women and women of childbearing age living in Perth, Western Australia identified motivators for behaviour change and provided insight into the theoretical constructs that could be used to guide the creation of persuasive messages. Positive motivations for abstinence, such as a desire to feel in control and gain social approval were identified, as were several negative motivations, such as wanting to be free of fear and worry, and to avoid possible poor pregnancy outcomes. Along with constructs from social cognition models such as Protection Motivation Theory (Maddux & Rogers, 1983; Rogers, 1983, 1975), these data underpinned the development of a series of communication objectives and communication materials, such as television concept executions, and copy and graphics for print media. The communication materials were then tested through five focus groups with pregnant women, women of childbearing age and male partners to identify those that were most motivating, and to identify specific copy and execution elements that appeared to enhance the persuasiveness and credibility of messages. Two television concept executions, one a threat appeal based on fear and worry, and the other a positive appeal based on self-efficacy, had particularly good potential to motivate behaviour change. These became the basis for five final concept executions that were tested against a control with 685 women (520 women of childbearing age and 165 pregnant women). Results showed the concept executions containing a threat appeal were significantly more effective at increasing women‟s intentions to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy, compared with the control and positive appeal. This study provides evidence of messages effectively increasing women‟s intentions to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy. It demonstrates the value of using theory-based formative research with the target audience to inform the creation of messages that promote abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy. The results and recommendations have direct implications for the potential use of threat appeals and self-efficacy messages in mass media campaigns aimed at preventing prenatal alcohol exposure