An evaluation of the license to save lives program to promote organ, eye, and tissue donation among teenagers.

As the number of designated organ donors continues to lag behind the number of waiting list patients, teenagers remain a promising demographic of potential organ donors. The current study enlisted Michigan and Ohio driver education students to participate in an online digital learning intervention, License to Save Lives (LTSL). Students were randomly assigned to either an interactive or noninteractive LTSL intervention.

An examination of teenagers' beliefs toward organ donor registration.

Teenagers represent a promising target population for organ donor registration efforts, as in the US teenagers age 15-17 may register their intent for organ donation, which later translates to consent at age 18. However, teenagers constitute a relatively understudied population in the organ donation literature. A sample of teenagers (N = 466) ranging in age from 13 to 19 was recruited from driver's education schools in Ohio and Michigan in order to learn more about their perceived reasons for and against registering as an organ donor.

Gendered Conceptions of Preconception Health: A Thematic Analysis of Men's and Women's Beliefs about Responsibility for Preconception Health Behavior.

Preconception health (PCH) focuses on taking steps before a pregnancy to safeguard the health of the woman and future baby. Although recommendations to improve PCH target all people of reproductive age, research shows most interventions and messages focus primarily on women, which may contribute to existing normative beliefs that women are more responsible for protecting children's health. In this study, we explore society's gendered expectations of responsibility for engaging in recommended PCH behaviors (i.

Effects of Opinion Climate, Efficacy Messages, and Publicness of Social Media on Intentions to Retransmit Anti-Binge Drinking Messages on Facebook.

Reducing the rate of college binge drinking is a major public health goal. Social media sites such as Facebook serve as platforms for young adults' online communication, so they could potentially extend the reach of health campaign messages via retransmission. Thus, it is important to identify the factors that predict intentions to share health-related messages on social media.

Does Discrimination Breed Mistrust? Examining the Role of Mediated and Non-Mediated Discrimination Experiences in Medical Mistrust.

Medical mistrust is associated with a decreased likelihood of engaging in various health behaviors, including health utilization and preventive screening. Despite calls for research to address medical mistrust, few studies have explicitly delved into antecedents to medical mistrust. The current study a) examines the relationship between discrimination experiences and medical mistrust and b) experimentally tests the influence of mediated vicarious discrimination on reported levels of medical mistrust.

Trends in the Prevalence of Exposure to e-Cigarette Aerosol in Public Places Among US Middle and High School Students, 2015 to 2018.

This survey study examines trends in and factors associated with exposure to secondhand smoke from combusted tobacco and secondhand aerosol from electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among US youth from 2015 to 2018.

Gender Stereotypes and Preconception Health: Men's and Women's Expectations of Responsibility and Intentions to Engage in Preventive Behaviors.

Introduction As mounting evidence underscores the importance of both men and women taking steps before pregnancy to improve reproductive outcomes, public health priorities are shifting toward a more gender-inclusive program of promoting preconception health (PCH). This study examined whether prescriptive gender stereotypes, defined as men's and women's beliefs about PCH behavioral norms each gender should uphold, were positively associated with intentions to engage in behaviors to protect a future child's health. Methods Data came from a June 2017 online survey of 609 U.

Assertive communication about others' smoking and vaping in public venues: Results from a National Survey of US adults.

Introduction: This study describes prevalence and correlates of US adults' intentions to engage in assertive communication (i.e., speak up) about others' smoking and vaping in public venues.

A systematic review of medical mistrust measures.

Objective: Medical mistrust is seen as a barrier to health promotion and addressing health disparities among marginalized populations. This study seeks to examine how medical mistrust has been measured as a step towards informing related health promotion efforts.

Methods: A systematic review of medical mistrust scales was conducted using four major databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Communication & Mass Media Complete.

Graphic and Arousing? Emotional and Cognitive Reactions to Tobacco Graphic Health Warnings and Associated Quit-Related Outcomes Among Low SEP Population Groups.

Research on graphic health warnings (GHWs) indicates that beyond changing cognitions about the health effects of smoking, GHWs evoke emotional reactions that can influence quit-related outcomes. Emotions can be classified based on valence (positive or negative) and arousal (calm or excited). However, although considerable research has examined the differential effectiveness of positive versus negative GHW-evoked emotions, research investigating the role of arousal activation in quit-related behaviors is scarce.

Speaking up about Lighting up in Public: Examining Psychosocial Correlates of Smoking and Vaping Assertive Communication Intentions among U.S. Adults.

Against a backdrop of increasing smoke-free policies, electronic cigarette use, and discussion about public health risks posed by smoking and vaping, this study examines psychosocial predictors of intentions to ask others not to use e-cigarettes (vape) and smoke - i.e., assertive communication intentions.

The relative persuasiveness of narrative versus non-narrative health messages in public health emergency communication: Evidence from a field experiment.

Previous studies indicated that narrative health messages are more effective than non-narrative messages in influencing health outcomes. However, this body of evidence does not account for differences in health domain, and little is known about the effectiveness of this message execution strategy during public health emergencies. In this study, we examined the relative effectiveness of the two formats in influencing knowledge and perceived response efficacy related to prevention of pandemic influenza, and determined whether effects of message format vary across population sub-groups.

To vape or not to vape? Effects of exposure to conflicting news headlines on beliefs about harms and benefits of electronic cigarette use: Results from a randomized controlled experiment.

News coverage of novel tobacco products including e-cigarettes has framed the use of these products with both positive and negative slants. Conflicting information may shape public knowledge, perceptions of e-cigarettes, and their harms. The objective of this study is to assess effects of exposure to conflicting news coverage on US adults' beliefs about harms and benefits of e-cigarette use.

Comparing perceived effectiveness of FDA-proposed cigarette packaging graphic health warnings between sexual and gender minorities and heterosexual adults.

Background: In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed nine graphic health warnings (GHWs) on cigarette packaging that were rated equally effective across racial/ethnic, education, or income groups of adult smokers.

Rural Women's Perceptions About Cancer Disparities and Contributing Factors: a Call to Communication.

Rural cancer disparities are increasingly documented in the USA. Research has identified and begun to address rural residents' cancer knowledge and behaviors, especially among women. Little, however, is known about rural female residents' awareness of cancer inequities and perceived contributing factors affecting them and their families.

Knowledge about Chemicals in e-Cigarette Secondhand Vapor and Perceived Harms of Exposure among a National Sample of U.S. Adults.

Potentially harmful chemicals are detectable in e-cigarette secondhand vapor (hereafter SHV), contrary to advertising and marketing claims that it contains "only water vapor." We assessed public knowledge about the presence of chemicals in SHV and associations between knowledge and perceived harms of exposure to SHV. We conducted an online survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,449 U.

To Regulate or Not to Regulate? Views on Electronic Cigarette Regulations and Beliefs about the Reasons for and against Regulation.

Background: Policies designed to restrict marketing, access to, and public use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are increasingly under debate in various jurisdictions in the US. Little is known about public perceptions of these policies and factors that predict their support or opposition.

Methods: Using a sample of US adults from Amazon Mechanical Turk in May 2015, this paper identifies beliefs about the benefits and costs of regulating e-cigarettes and identifies which of these beliefs predict support for e-cigarette restricting policies.

Prevalence and Framing of Health Disparities in Local Print News: Implications for Multilevel Interventions to Address Cancer Inequalities.

Background: Americans remain under-informed about cancer and other health disparities and the social determinants of health (SDH). The news media may be contributing to this knowledge deficit, whether by discussing these issues narrowly or ignoring them altogether. Because local media are particularly important in influencing public opinion and support for public policies, this study examines the prevalence and framing of disparities/SDH in local mainstream and ethnic print news.

Tuning in and catching on? Examining the relationship between pandemic communication and awareness and knowledge of MERS in the USA.

Background: Large-scale influenza outbreaks over the last decade, such as SARS and H1N1, have brought to global attention the importance of emergency risk communication and prompted the international community to develop communication responses. Since pandemic outbreaks are relatively infrequent, there is a dearth of evidence addressing the following questions: (i) Have the resources invested in strategic and routine communication for past pandemic outbreaks yielded public health preparedness benefits? (ii) Have past efforts sensitized people to pay attention to new pandemic threats? The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that was followed closely by major media outlets in the USA provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between exposure to public communication about epidemics and public awareness and knowledge about new risks.

Methods: In December, 2013, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of 627 American adults and examined the associations between people's awareness to prior pandemics and their awareness of and knowledge about MERS.

Representation, Exemplification, and Risk: Resonance of Tobacco Graphic Health Warnings Across Diverse Populations.

As countries implement Article 11 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, graphic warning labels that use images of people and their body parts to illustrate the consequences of smoking are being added to cigarette packs. According to exemplification theory, these case examples-exemplars-can shape perceptions about risk and may resonate differently among demographic subpopulations. Drawing on data from eight focus groups (N = 63) with smokers and nonsmokers from vulnerable populations, this qualitative study explores whether people considered exemplars in their reactions to and evaluations of U.

Comparison of beliefs about e-cigarettes' harms and benefits among never users and ever users of e-cigarettes.

Introduction: E-cigarette use is rapidly increasing, especially among youth and young adults. We need to learn what factors are associated with uptake in e-cigarettes. One important set of predictors is beliefs about e-cigarettes' potential harms and benefits.

Perceived Harm of Secondhand Electronic Cigarette Vapors and Policy Support to Restrict Public Vaping: Results From a National Survey of US Adults.

Introduction: There is ongoing debate over banning electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use (vaping) in public places. Many people perceive secondhand e-cigarette vapors (SHV) to be relatively harmless, which may affect their support for policies to restrict vaping in public places. Given that awareness of secondhand cigarette smoke risks predicts public support for clean air policies, we hypothesized that greater perceived harm of SHV to personal health would be associated with stronger support for vaping restrictions.

Public support for selected e-cigarette regulations and associations with overall information exposure and contradictory information exposure about e-cigarettes: Findings from a national survey of U.S. adults.

Objective: We assessed public support for six e-cigarette regulations and examined whether self-reported exposure to e-cigarette information and contradictory e-cigarette information were associated with support.

Method: We conducted an online survey among a nationally representative sample of 527 U.S.

Is exposure to e-cigarette communication associated with perceived harms of e-cigarette secondhand vapour? Results from a national survey of US adults.

Objectives: E-cigarettes are frequently advertised and portrayed in the media as less harmful compared with regular cigarettes. Earlier surveys reported public perceptions of harms to people using e-cigarettes; however, public perceptions of harms from exposure to secondhand vapour (SHV) have not been studied. We examined associations between self-reported exposure to e-cigarette advertising, media coverage, and interpersonal discussion and perceived harms of SHV.