ABSTRACTS
Volume 9, Number 5
September–October 2004
Vol. 9, Number 5: Contents | Editorial
| Abstracts
National Immunization Information
Hotline: Calls Concerning Adverse Events, 1998–2000
D. A. Gust A1, P. Gangarosa A2, B. Hibbs A3, R.
Pollard A4, G. Wallach A5, R. T. Chen A6
A1 Epidemiology and Surveillance Division, National Immunization Program,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
A2 Data Management Division, National Immunization Program, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
A3 Epidemiology and Surveillance Division, National Immunization Program,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
A4 Data Management Division, National Immunization Program, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
A5 National Immunization Information Hotline, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina
A6 Epidemiology and Surveillance Division, National Immunization Program,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Data from the National Immunization Information Hotline(NIIH)concerning
vaccine adverse event inquiries were analyzed from 1998 to 2000 (totaln=23,841[publicn=14,330;
health care professionalsn=9,511]). Approximately 20%of calls from the
public from 1998 to 2000 concerned vaccine adverse events. These calls
increased 199.5% from 1998 (n=422) to 1999 (n=1,264), then declined
12.4%from 1999 to 2000 (n=1,107). A Lexus Nexus search showed that the
number of news stories mentioning vaccine safety showed a similar pattern.
Women were more likely to call the NIIH concerning vaccine adverse events
than men, and persons 40–59 years old and persons 60 years old
and over were less likely to call about vaccine adverse events than
those 20–39 years. The parallel trends in news stories mentioning
vaccine safety and calls to the NIIH concerning adverse events suggests
that news stories may stimulate questions about vaccine safety. Understanding
that news stories may elicit questions about vaccine adverse events
and examining the characteristics of persons who ask vaccine adverse
event questions may guide future informational interventions toward
those most in need.
Seropositive Individuals Willingness
to Communicate, Self-efficacy, and Assertiveness Prior to HIV Infection
Tara Crowell A1
A1 The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, New Jersey,
USA
The purpose of this study was to examine possible communication similarities
between human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)positive and HIV negative individuals.
Forty HIV positive heterosexuals, who were infected through heterosexual
sex, completed an on-line questionnaire to assess their safer sexual
communication, willingness to communicate, condom self-efficacy, and
assertiveness prior to HIV infection. Results indicate that prior to
infection, HIV positive heterosexuals reported having similar safer
sexual communication behaviors to those not infected with the virus.
Participants in this study reported high levels of willingness to engage
in safer sex communication, but low levels of actual communication.
Further, results reveal that participants who engaged more often in
safer sex communication were more likely to use condoms. Additionally,
participants reported high levels of condom self-efficacy and moderate
levels of assertiveness; both variables positively correlated with condom
use. Finally, participants reported that they believed they did not
need to discuss using condoms because they were not at risk. Previous
safer sexual communication research reveals HIV negative individuals
reported engaging in the same behaviors and holding the same beliefs
reported by sereopositive individuals. Hence, discussion of the importance
of safer sexual communication and the utility of personalization to
increase the communication of HIV negative individuals is explored.
Social Imagery, Tobacco Independence,
and the TruthSM Campaign
W. Douglas Evans A1, Simani Price A2, Steven
Blahut A3, James Hersey A4, Jeffrey Niederdeppe A5, Sarah Ray A6
A1 RTI International, Washington, DC, USA
A2 American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC, USA
A3 American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC, USA
A4 RTI International, Washington, DC, USA
A5 RTI International, Washington, DC, USA
A6 American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC, USA
Objectives: This study investigated relationships among exposure to
the truthsmcampaign, differences in social imagery about not smoking
and related measures, and smoking behavior. We asked, “How does
truthsmwork?Through what psychological mechanisms does it affect smoking
behavior?” We developed a framework to explain how receptivity
to truthsmads might influence youth cognitive states and subsequent
effects on progression to established smoking. The main hypotheses were
that social imagery about not smoking and related beliefs and attitudes
about tobacco use mediate the relationship between truthsmexposure and
smoking status.Methods: The study was based on data from the Legacy
Media Tracking Survey(LMTS), waves I–III, which were conducted
at three time points from 1999 through 2001. A nationally representative
sample of 20,058 respondents aged 12–24 from the three time points
was used in the analysis. We developed a structural equation model (SEM)
based on constructs drawn from the LMTS. We investigated the model and
tested our hypotheses about the psychological and behavioral effects
of campaign exposure.Results: We tested our constructs and model using
a two-stage structural equation modeling approach. We first conducted
a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the measurement model.
Our model achieved satisfactory fit, and we conducted the SEM to test
our hypotheses. We found that social imagery and perceived tobacco independence
mediate the relationship between truthsmexposure and smoking status.
We found meaningful differences between paths for segmented samples
based on age, gender, and race/ethnicity subgroups and over time.Conclusions:
The truthsmcampaign operates through individuals’sense of tobacco
independence and social imagery about not smoking. This study indicates
that the campaign's strategy has worked as predicted and represents
an effective model for social marketing to change youth risk behaviors.
Future studies should further investigate subgroup differences in campaign
reactions and utilize contextual information about the truthsmcampaign's
evolution to explain changes in reactions over time.
The Health Information National
Trends Survey (HINTS): Development, Design, and Dissemination
David Nelson A1, Gary Kreps A1, Bradford Hesse
A1, Robert Croyle A1, Gordon Willis A1, Neeraj Arora A1, Barbara Rimer
A2, K. Vish Viswanath A3, Neil Weinstein A4, Sara Alden A5
A1 National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
A2 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
A3 Harvard University and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, USA
A4 Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey, USA
A5 National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Little is known about access, sources, and trust of cancer-related
information, or factors that facilitate or hinder communication on a
populationwide basis. Through a careful developmental process involving
extensive input from many individuals and organizations, the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) developed the Health Information National Trends
Survey (HINTS) to help fill this gap. This nationally representative
telephone survey of 6,369 persons aged=18 years among the general population
was first conducted in 2002–2003, and will be repeated biennially
depending on availability of funding. The purpose of creating a population
survey to be repeated on a cyclical basis is to track trends in the
public's rapidly changing use of newcommunication technologies while
charting progress in meeting health communication goals in terms of
the public's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The HINTS survey instrument
was built upon extant models of health communication and behavior change,
taking into account the rapidly changing communication environment.
Questions in the survey were drawn from an overall theoretical framework
that juxtaposed the “push” aspects of traditional broadcast
media against the “pull” aspects of new media. HINTS data
will be made widely available for researchers and practitioners; it
will help further research in health communication and health promotion
and provide useful information for programs, policies, and practices
in a variety of settings.
Toward Reducing Youth Exposure to Tobacco Messages:
Examining the Breadth of Brand and Nonbrand Communications
RenÉe Lee A1, Valerie Taylor A2, Ryan
McGetrick A3
A1 Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, USA
A2 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
A3 Ryan Abbott Associates, Branford, Connecticut, USA
Young people cannot escape prosmoking messages in today's society.
From magazine advertisements to billboards to promotional products to
storefronts, the pervasive landscape of tobacco-related communications
is unavoidable. Despite increased restrictions on tobacco advertising
and promotion in recent decades, including the 1998 Master Settlement
Agreement (MSA), tobacco companies continue to employ an extensive array
of marketing communications practices that can reach youth. Moreover,
minors encounter tobacco messages not only from branded sources (those
paid for by the tobacco firms), but also through nonbranded sources,
such as smoking portrayals on television and in films and prosmoking
websites.In this article, we critically examine the myriad and far-reaching
tobacco messages that young people face. Although tobacco company marketing
that can reach minors has undergone much research and public scrutiny,
the combined impact of those messages along with nonbrand messages that
positively portray smoking has received much less attention. Since all
messages communicate, not just branded ones, it is important to examine
the breadth of tobacco communications to which young people are exposed.
We close by offering recommendations both for reducing youth exposure
to protobacco communications and enhancing anti–youth-smoking efforts.
The Health Information National Trends Survey
(HINTS): Development, Design, and Dissemination
Derek Yach A1
A1 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
This article does not have an abstract.
The Health Information National Trends Survey
(HINTS): Development, Design, and Dissemination
Vicki Freimuth A1
A1 University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
This article does not have an abstract.
Book Review
Effective Health Risk Messages: A Step-by-Step Guide
Kim Witte, Gary Meyer, and Dennis Martell (2001)
Reviewed by Arvind Singhal, Professor and Presidential Research Scholar,
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
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