Trends in the Research and Practice of Health Communication Campaigns

A compelling communication tool that can potentially impact health‐related outcomes and indicators across numerous health problems among a diversity of audiences is the health communication campaign. The purpose of the current article is to discuss trends in the research and practice of health communication campaigns. First, we discuss the issue of campaign effects and discuss a framework that encompasses key principles of effective campaigns. Next, we discuss four trends in health communication campaigns: (a) the increased application of marketing principles in campaigns; (b) the greater use of rigorous outcome evaluation designs in campaign research; (c) the increased use of cost effectiveness analysis in campaigns; and (d) the increased use of new media technologies in campaigns. Finally, we conclude the article with thoughts about the future of health communication campaign research and practice in relation to these trends.     

Effects of Mental Imagery on Gambling Behavior

The influence of a brief mental imagery task was examined to determine if imagining engaging in gambling behaviors would satiate the participant on gambling-related reinforcers and subsequently reduce gambling behavior. Thirty-one participants underwent a mental imagery task consisting of either imagining gambling on a slot machine 30 times and placing quarters into a laundry machine 3 times, or imagining gambling on a slot machine 3 times and placing quarters in a laundry machine 30 times. Following the imagery task, participants were allowed to play a real slot machine and stop whenever they wanted to be finished. The results showed that those who imagined playing the slot machine 30 times before actually gambling played significantly fewer trials than those who imagined playing only 3 times. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.     

Individual learning as a driver of changes in community vulnerability under repeated hurricanes and changing climate

The risks from singular natural hazards such as a hurricane have been extensively investigated in the literature. However, little is understood about how individual and collective responses to repeated hazards change communities and impact their preparation for future events. Individual mitigation actions may drive how a community's resilience evolves under repeated hazards. In this paper, we investigate the effect that learning by homeowners can have on household mitigation decisions and on how this influences a region's vulnerability to natural hazards over time, using hurricanes along the east coast of the United States as our case study. To do this, we build an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate homeowners’ adaptation to repeated hurricanes and how this affects the vulnerability of the regional housing stock. Through a case study, we explore how different initial beliefs about the hurricane hazard and how the memory of recent hurricanes could change a community's vulnerability both under current and potential future hurricane scenarios under climate change. In some future hurricane environments, different initial beliefs can result in large differences in the region's long-term vulnerability to hurricanes. We find that when some homeowners mitigate soon after a hurricane—when their memory of the event is the strongest—it can help to substantially decrease the vulnerability of a community.     

Longitudinal Test of a Multiple Domain Model of Adolescent Condom Use

A comprehensive multiple domain model (MDM) to understand condom use in adolescents was proposed and tested using structural equation modeling of data at three time points. The proposed model integrates social psychological theory, demographic and personality factors, social environment, and situational/contextual variables. Adolescents who were sexually active at time 2 (6 months after baseline) and time 3 (1 year after time 2) and completed surveys at all three time points were included in the analyses (N = 511). An iterative process of model testing resulted in a structural equation model that provided a good fit to the data (CFI = .92, RMSEA = .04). Models comparing gender and race as moderators also were calculated and supported the generalizability of the model. Results provide support for an MDM that goes beyond traditional social psychological models for a broader understanding of condom use in adolescents. Implications for further theory testing and safer sexual interventions are discussed.