ABSTRACTS
Volume 8, Number 5
September-October 2003
Vol. 8, Num. 5: Contents | Editorial
| Up Front | Abstracts
Science Communication and the
Swedish Acrylamide "Alarm"
RAGNAR E. LÖFSTEDT A1
A1 School of Social Science & Public Policy King's College London,
London, United Kingdom
On April 24, 2002 the Swedish National Food Administration along with
a group of researchers at the University of Stockholm raised an alarm
regarding potential health risks associated with eating fried and baked
foods such as potatoes and bread. Scientists had found high levels of
acrylamide (up to 500 times more acrylamide than that allowed in drinking
water by the World Health Organisation), a substance widely believed
to cause cancer, in cooked high starch foods. The outcomes of this "alarm"
were immediate. In Sweden sales of chips fell by 30-50 percent over
a 3-day period following the press conference, and share prices among
several fried food manufacturers fell substantially, as stock analysts
were fearful that consumption of fried foods would decrease significantly.
Four days after the press conference, however, consumers began eating
fried food as normal and a number of researchers and journalists in
Sweden and elsewhere took the view that the alarm had been both exaggerated
and ill placed. In this study, I evaluate the science communication
process associated with the scare, based on a content analysis of a
select group of Swedish broad sheets from just previous to the April
2002 press conference to the present time (December 2002). In addition,
the study is based on interviews with the various Swedish regulators
involved in the process itself (in particular at the Swedish National
Food Administration) as well as with the scientists responsible for
the study at Stockholm University and relevant journalists and politicians.
Going Public on Acrylamide
DAVID SHARP
This article does not have an abstract.
Acrylamide: Lessons for Risk Management
and Communication
ORTWIN RENN
University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
This article does not have an abstract.
Messages Influencing College
Women's Tanning Bed Use: Statistical versus Narrative Evidence Format
and a Self-Assessment to Increase Perceived Susceptibility
KATHRYN GREENE A1, LAURA S. BRINN A2
A1 Department of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick,
New Jersey, USA
A2 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Understanding the effect of messages and other influences on health
decision-making has the potential to decrease risky behavior such as
tanning bed use. This study explores the effect of type of evidence,
self-assessments of risk for skin cancer, and personality factors on
intention to use and use of tanning beds among Caucasian female college
students. Specifically, it targeted the perceived susceptibility component
of the Health Belief Model and its impact on intention to tan as well
as changes in actual tanning behavior. College students (N=141) in the
southeast United States read randomly assigned messages and self-assessments,
filled out surveys, and were later contacted for a follow-up telephone
survey. The statistical message was rated higher on information value
and also resulted in decreased intention to tan, decreased tanning behavior,
and increased perceived susceptibility to skin cancer. The narrative
message, in contrast, increased perceptions of realism and also worked
to decrease intentions to tan. Additionally, the self-assessment manipulation
resulted in increased susceptibility and decreased intention to tan
and post tanning behavior. Personality factors explained small portions
of variance. Key limitations and directions for future research are
also addressed.
The Influence of Peer versus Adult
Communication on AIDS-Protective Behaviors among Ghanaian Youth
R. CAMERON WOLF A1, JULIE PULERWITZ A2
A1 Office of HIV/AIDS, Global Health Bureau, U.S. Agency for International
Development, Washington, DC, USA
A2 Horizons Program/Population Council, Seconded from PATH, Washington,
DC, USA
Who most influences youth's AIDS-protective behaviors: peers, adults,
or a combination of both? This paper explores interpersonal communication
about reproductive health information among Ghanaian youth, and the
association of this communication with different types of reported AIDS-preventive
behaviors. Contacts of peer educators in Ghana were surveyed at three
sites during April 1998. Respondents age 11 to 26 years were included
in this analysis (N=490). Youth who talked with both peers and adults
(n=90) were 2.08 times more likely (95% CI: 1.23, 3.51) to report having
done anything to protect themselves from AIDS than those who talked
to no one (n=202), while those who talked with peers only (n=150) were
1.71 times more likely (95% CI: 1.10, 2.64) to have done something to
protect themselves from AIDS. Youth who talked with adults only were
not significantly more likely to protect themselves from AIDS than those
who spoke with no one (n=42). Sexually active youth were more than twice
as likely to talk to peers as adults. Specific AIDS-protective behaviors
reported by youth differed substantially depending on whether their
contact source was peers or adults. Understanding the interelationship
between peer and adult influence allows program managers to design increasingly
effective programs.
Chronic Disease Coverage in Canadian Aboriginal
Newspapers
LAURIE HOFFMAN-GOETZ A1, CHARLENE SHANNON A2,
JUANNE N. CLARKE A3
A1 Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
A2 Department of Kinesiology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton,
New Brunswick, Canada
A3 Department of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada
Purpose: To determine the volume and focus of articles on four chronic
diseases in newspapers targeting First Nations, Me´tis, and Inuit
in Canada.
Methods: From a sampling frame of 31 Aboriginal newspapers published
in English from 1996-2000, 14 newspapers were randomly selected allowing
for national and regional representation. Newspaper archives were searched
at the National Library of Canada and articles selected if the disease
terms cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or HIV/AIDS appeared
in the headline, or in the first or last paragraph of the article. Articles
were coded for inclusion of mobilizing information (local, distant,
unrestricted, not specified, none) and content focus (scientific, human
interest, commercial, other). Cancer articles were categorized by tumor
site specificity. Data were analyzed by frequency, cross tabulations,
and chi-square analysis.
Results: Of 400 chronic disease articles, there were significantly
more articles on HIV/AIDS (167 or 41.8%) and diabetes (135 or 33.8%)
and few articles on cancer (56 or 14%) and cardiovascular disease (30
articles or 7.5%) (p<0.001). Slightly more than one third (36.5%)
of the articles contained mobilizing information to enable readers to
take further health action. Mobilizing information was virtually absent
from cardiovascular (7/30 or 23%) and diabetes (29/135 or 21.5%) articles.
Site specific cancer coverage differed significantly from chance (p<0.001)
with 41% of the articles on breast cancer and no articles on lung or
colorectal cancers.
Interpretation: Given the burden of tobacco-related cardiovascular
disease and cancer in Canadian Aboriginal people, the lack of coverage
and limited mobilizing information in ethnic newspapers are a missed
opportunity for health promotion.
A Paid Radio Advertising Campaign to Promote
Parent-Child Communication about Alcohol
PAMELA J. SURKAN A1, WILLIAM DEJONG A2, KATHLEEN
M. HERR-ZAYA A3, MAYRA RODRIGUEZ-HOWARD A4, KEVIN FAY A5
A1 Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public
Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A2 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University,
School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A3 Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, Massachusetts Department of Public
Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A4 Formerly with the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, Massachusetts
Department of Public Health, Massachusetts, USA
A5 Formerly with Arnold Communications, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts,
USA, now with Critical Insights, Portland, ME.
This study assessed the impact of a paid radio commercial designed
to promote parent-child communication about alcohol use and sponsored
by the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, Massachusetts Department
of Public Health. A random-digit-dial telephone survey of parents or
guardians of children ages 10-17 years was conducted after a four-week
advertising flight. Respondents with unassisted recall of the commercial
more often disagreed that parent-child discussion is useful only if
children have begun to experiment with alcohol, and more often reported
having three or more parent-child discussions about alcohol compared
to those who did not recall the commercial. Findings suggest the potential
benefit of paid media campaigns to encourage parents to talk with their
children about alcohol.
Book Review
Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media’s Influence
on Adolescent Sexuality
Jane D.Brown, Jeanne R.Steele, and Kim Walsh-Childers (Eds.) (2002).
Reviewed by Megan R. Dillow, The Pennsylvania State University,USA
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