Need for Cognition and Message Complexity in Motivating Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Callers to the Cancer Information Service

This field experiment examined the impact of an individual\u27s need for cognition (NFC; the tendency to enjoy thinking deeply about issues), complex versus simple messages, and the interaction of NFC and message type on encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption. Callers to the Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Institute (N = 517) were asked to participate in the experiment at the end of their call. Individual NFC was assessed, and participants were assigned randomly to receive a telephone message promoting fruit and vegetable consumption that was either complex and multifaceted or simple and straightforward. Similarly constructed brochures were mailed immediately following the call, and additional brochures were mailed 2 and 3 months later. Although NFC did not predict intake, complex messages were more effective than simple messages in motivating fruit and vegetable consumption 1 and 4 months later

Tailoring Messages to Individual Differences in Monitoring- Blunting Styles to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake

Objective To examine whether messages matched to individuals\u27 monitoring-blunting coping styles (MBCS) are more effective in increasing fruit and vegetable intake than mismatched messages. MBCS refers to the tendency to either attend to and amplify, or distract oneself from and minimize threatening information. Design/Setting Randomly assigned messages were tailored to resonate with either monitors or blunters and delivered at baseline, 1 week, 2 months, and 3 months later. Surveys were conducted at baseline and 2 and 4 months later. Participants 531 callers to a cancer information hotline who did not meet the 5 A Day guideline. Intervention A brief telephone-delivered message and 3 mailings of booklets and promotional items encouraging fruit and vegetable intake, tailored for either monitors or blunters. Main Outcome Measure Fruit and vegetable intake 2 and 4 months post-baseline. Analysis Hierarchical regression modeling. Results Messages matched to MBCS were more effective than mismatched messages, particularly for the monitor message, in increasing intake at 2 months but not at 4 months. Conclusions and Implications These minimal interventions influenced fruit and vegetable intake. MBCS may be a promising target for developing tailored messages aimed at increasing intake, although additional research is needed to verify the robustness of these findings

Casting Health Messages in Terms of Responsibility for Dietary Change: Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Objective To compare the effectiveness of messages emphasizing the importance of either personal or social responsibility for dietary behavior change in increasing fruit and vegetable intake. Design/Setting Randomly assigned individually or socially oriented messages were delivered at baseline, 1 week, and 2 and 3 months later. Telephone surveys were conducted at baseline and 1 and 4 months later. Participants 528 callers to a cancer information hotline who were not meeting the “5 A Day” dietary recommendation. Interventions A brief telephone-delivered message and 3 mailings of pamphlets and promotional items encouraging fruit and vegetable intake that emphasized either personal or social responsibility. Main Outcome Measures Fruit and vegetable intake 1 and 4 months postbaseline. Analysis Chi-square, t tests, and analyses of variance and covariance. Results Both types of messages increased intake substantially (P = .01). To some extent, the social responsibility message continued to motivate increased intake over time compared with the personal responsibility message. Conclusions and Implications These minimal interventions had a substantial impact on fruit and vegetable intake. Health messages might be more effective over the longer term if they are designed to emphasize the importance of social responsibility, although further study is needed to confirm the robustness of these findings

Out of control mortality matters: the effect of perceived uncontrollable mortality risk on a health-related decision

Prior evidence from the public health literature suggests that both control beliefs and perceived threats to life are important for health behaviour. Our previously presented theoretical model generated the more specific hypothesis that uncontrollable, but not controllable, personal mortality risk should alter the payoff from investment in health protection behaviours. We carried out three experiments to test whether altering the perceived controllability of mortality risk would affect a health-related decision. Experiment 1 demonstrated that a mortality prime could be used to alter a health-related decision: the choice between a healthier food reward (fruit) and an unhealthy alternative (chocolate). Experiment 2 demonstrated that it is the controllability of the mortality risk being primed that generates the effect, rather than mortality risk per se. Experiment 3 showed that the effect could be seen in a surreptitious experiment that was not explicitly health related. Our results suggest that perceptions about the controllability of mortality risk may be an important factor in people’s health-related decisions. Thus, techniques for adjusting perceptions about mortality risk could be important tools for use in health interventions. More importantly, tackling those sources of mortality that people perceive to be uncontrollable could have a dual purpose: making neighbourhoods and workplaces safer would have the primary benefit of reducing uncontrollable mortality risk, which could lead to a secondary benefit from improved health behaviours

Translating Medical Evidence to Promote Informed Health Care Decisions: Decision Making about PSA

To examine the effects of a community-based intervention on decisions about prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening using multiple measures of informed decision making (IDM)

Prevalence and predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use among people with coronary heart disease or at risk for this in the sixth Tromsø study: a comparative analysis using protection motivation theory

Background Engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as healthy diet and regular physical activity, are known to reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is known to be associated with having a healthy lifestyle. The primary aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and predictors of CAM use in CHD patients, and in those without CHD but at risk for developing CHD, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a guiding conceptual framework. Method Questionnaire data were collected from 12,981 adult participants in the cross-sectional sixth Tromsø Study (2007–8). Eligible for analyses were 11,103 participants who reported whether they had used CAM or not. Of those, 830 participants reported to have or have had CHD (CHD group), 4830 reported to have parents, children or siblings with CHD (no CHD but family risk), while 5443 reported no CHD nor family risk of CHD. We first compared the patterns of CAM use in each group, and then examined the PMT predictors of CAM use. Health vulnerability from the threat appraisal process of PMT was assessed by self-rated health and expectations for future health. Response efficacy from the coping appraisal process of PMT was assessed as preventive health beliefs and health behavior frequency. Results Use of CAM was most commonly seen in people with no CHD themselves, but family risk of developing CHD (35.8%), compared to people already diagnosed with CHD (30.2%) and people with no CHD nor family risk (32.1%). All four of the PMT factors; self-rated health, expectations for future health, preventive health beliefs, and the health behavior index – were predictors for CAM use in the no CHD but family risk group. Conclusion These findings suggest that people use CAM in response to a perceived risk of developing CHD, and to prevent disease and to maintain health

Self-help interventions for symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress in patients with physical illnesses: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Psychological distress, depression and anxiety are common in most physical diseases, and self-help interventions, if effective, might be an important approach to improve outcomes as they are inexpensive to provide to large numbers of patients. The primary aim of this review was to assess randomised controlled trials examining the impact of self-help interventions on symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress in patients with physical illness. Systematic searches of electronic databases resulted in twenty-five eligible studies for meta-analysis (n = 4211). The results of the primary meta-analyses revealed a significant improvement in depression symptoms, in favour of the intervention group (SMD = − 0.13, 95% CI: − 0.25, − 0.02, p = 0.02, I2 = 50%). There were no significant differences in symptoms of anxiety (SMD = − 0.10, 95% CI: − 0.24, 0.05, p = 0.20, I2 = 63%) or psychological distress (SMD = − 0.14, 95% CI: − 0.40, 0.12, p = 0.30, I2 = 72%) between intervention and control conditions. Several subgroup and sensitivity analyses improved effect sizes, suggesting that optimal mental health outcomes may be obtained in patients without neurological conditions, and with interventions based on a therapeutic model (such as cognitive behavioural therapy), and with stress management components. This review demonstrates that with appropriate design and implementation, self-help interventions may potentially improve symptoms of depression in patients with physical conditions