From scaring to stigma: an examination of stigma's and related constructs' association with EPPM-framed messages and the ethical dilemmas of health communication

Fear appeals have long been one tool in the communication discipline’s strategy to inform the public about health behaviors and conditions. More specifically, one fear appeal framework, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), has received the lion’s share of scholarly attention in the past few decades. However, this project posits that by increasing the public’s perception of a health behavior’s threat and efficacy (the two prominent components of the EPPM), that secondary audiences (those who do not participate in the specific health behavior) may create or maintain stigma and other negative attitudes toward primary audiences (those who do engage in the particular behavior). This research explores the relationships between threat, efficacy, stigma, perceived responsibility for one’s behavior and health outcomes, and discrimination via messages on two similar topics: smoking and vaping (using electronic cigarettes). The original aim of the study was to use an experimental design to manipulate secondary audience perceptions of the threat and efficacy related of smoking and vaping behaviors and cessation. However, the manipulation checks were only partially successful, so, instead, the study utilized general threat and efficacy perceptions to examine relationships stigma as a predominantly observational study. Additionally, two constructs and measures, responsibility and stigma, were critiqued and explored for their robustness and predictive power, and components of perceived responsibility were tested for mediation between perceived threat and efficacy and stigmatization of people who smoke or vape. Finally, locus of control and selected demographic variables were tested for potential differences in the amount of stigma or related concepts assigned to others who smoked or vaped. Messages regarding smoking or vaping, along with measures for perceptions of threat, efficacy, controllability, attributions, negative emotions toward people who engage in the behavior, stereotypes about people who engage in the behavior, blame, and discrimination were randomly disseminated to a large number of participants via Amazon’s MTurk. Using correlations, multiple regression, and univariate analyses yielded partial support for the project’s main premises. Although the smoking topic mostly produced null findings (perhaps because of ceiling or floor effects), the vaping topic did demonstrate moderate relationships between threat perceptions, responsibility constructs, stigma, blame, and discrimination for secondary audiences. Responsibility perceptions also partially mediated the relationship between threat and stigma. Efficacy was not associated with any of the aforementioned variables for either topic. Finally, a new discrimination measure was investigated, responsibility did include controllability and attribution perceptions, and additional variance was established by enhancing traditional stigma scales with measures of negative emotions and stereotypical thoughts. This dissertation discusses the rationales for the importance of considering ethical dilemmas when communicating threat to the public, provides rationales for the proposed hypotheses and research questions, explicates the methods used to collect and analyze data, presents the specific findings, and discusses implications, future research, and limitations of the project

Vascular and blood-brain barrier-related changes underlie stress responses and resilience in female mice and depression in human tissue

Prevalence, symptoms, and treatment of depression suggest that major depressive disorders (MDD) present sex differences. Social stress-induced neurovascular pathology is associated with depressive symptoms in male mice; however, this association is unclear in females. Here, we report that chronic social and subchronic variable stress promotes blood-brain barrier (BBB) alterations in mood-related brain regions of female mice. Targeted disruption of the BBB in the female prefrontal cortex (PFC) induces anxiety- and depression-like behaviours. By comparing the endothelium cell-specific transcriptomic profiling of the mouse male and female PFC, we identify several pathways and genes involved in maladaptive stress responses and resilience to stress. Furthermore, we confirm that the BBB in the PFC of stressed female mice is leaky. Then, we identify circulating vascular biomarkers of chronic stress, such as soluble E-selectin. Similar changes in circulating soluble E-selectin, BBB gene expression and morphology can be found in blood serum and postmortem brain samples from women diagnosed with MDD. Altogether, we propose that BBB dysfunction plays an important role in modulating stress responses in female mice and possibly MDD

Grey’s Anatomy Viewing and Organ Donation Attitude Formation Examining Mediators Bridging This Relationship Among African Americans, Caucasians, and Latinos

This study tests a comprehensive model linking Grey’s Anatomy viewing and perceived realism of this program with organ donation knowledge, barriers—including medical mistrust, disgust, bodily integrity, and superstition—and subsequent organ donation attitudes. In addition to testing the hypothesized structural model, ethnic differences were examined by way of (a) the multigroup method to test for differences in path coefficients, (b) multivariate analysis of variance to examine differences among the study variables, and (c) χ2 tests to assess differences in organ donation registrations among African Americans ( n = 200), Caucasians ( n = 200), and Latinos ( n = 200). Support for the overall structural model was found and various differences emerged among the African American, Caucasian, and Latino sample across study variables. The results from this research are discussed with an emphasis on the theoretical and practical implications

Perceptions About Organ Donation Among African American, Hispanic, and White High School Students

We applied the Health Belief Model (HBM) to better understand perceptions of organ donation among African American, Hispanic, and White high school students. We conducted 14 focus groups with 18-year-old students to identify strategies to reach this audience when promoting the First-Person Consent Registry (FPCR) for organ donation. We found that African American, Hispanic, and White high school students are largely unaware of the need for organ donors, and are unfamiliar with how to join the FPCR. Participants identified more barriers to joining the FPCR than benefits. Two aspects of self-efficacy emerged related to joining the FPCR: decisional and task efficacy. Overall, few differences were found with respect to organ donation myths across the three ethnic groups. The results are discussed, with an emphasis on how the findings compare and contrast with previous organ donation research. We focus on message design and dissemination strategies for practitioners targeting 18-year-old high school students with organ donation promotional materials. </jats:p

Determinants of parents’ decision to vaccinate their children against rotavirus : results of a longitudinal study

Rotavirus disease is a common cause of health care utilization and almost all children are affected by the age of 5 years. In Canada, at the time of this survey (2008–09), immunization rates for rotavirus were <20%.We assessed the determinants of a parent’s acceptance to have their child immunized against rotavirus. The survey instruments were based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Data were collected in two phases. In all, 413 and 394 parents completed the first and second interviews, respectively (retention rate 95%). Most parents (67%) intended to immunize their child against rotavirus. Factors significantly associated with parental intentions (Phase 1) were as follows: perception of the moral correctness of having their child immunized (personal normative belief) and perception that significant others will approve of the immunization behavior (subjective norm), perceived capability of having their child immunized (perceived behavioral control) and household income. At Phase 2, 165 parents (42%) reported that their child was immunized against rotavirus. The main determinant of vaccination behavior was parental intention to have their child vaccinated, whereas personal normative beliefs influenced both intention and behavior. The acceptability of the rotavirus vaccine will be higher if health promotion addresses parental knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding the disease and the vaccine.Medicine, Faculty ofPediatrics, Department ofNon UBCReviewedFacult