Using social media surveys and interventions to address vaccine hesitancy in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Countering COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has been a challenge in Saudi Arabia, one of the countries affected most by the pandemic in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Aims: To identify information needs, perceived benefits, concerns, trusted information sources, social norms, and predictors for COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Saudi Arabia and identify effective messaging strategies to increase vaccination intentions among the unvaccinated.

Method: Between March and April 2021, we conducted an online cross-sectional survey ( = 2883), and in part, a randomized experiment for unvaccinated participants ( = 675) in Saudi Arabia using Facebook Ads and Messenger.

Are you prepared for the next storm? Developing social norms messages to motivate community members to perform disaster risk mitigation behaviors.

Preparing for natural disasters and adapting to climate change can save lives. Yet, minimal research has examined how governments can motivate community members to prepare for disasters (e.g.

When Crises Hit Home: How U.S. Higher Education Leaders Navigate Values During Uncertain Times.

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, this study investigates how U.S. higher education leaders have centered their crisis management on values and guiding ethical principles.

The Influence of Stigmatizing Messages on Danger Appraisal: Examining the Model of Stigma Communication for Opioid-Related Stigma, Policy Support, and Related Outcomes.

Drug overdose is a leading cause of injury and death in the United States, and opioids are among the most significant of causes. For people with opioid use disorders (OUDs), opioid stigma can lead to devastating consequences, including anxiety and depression. Still, mass media may stigmatize people with OUDs by ascribing stigmatizing labels (e.

Increasing Perceived Risk of Opioid Misuse: The Effects of Concrete Language and Image.

Risk perception is a critical determinant for individuals' health behavior change, especially for behaviors with distal future consequences. Building on construal-level theory, this study investigates if and how thinking concretely about the negative consequences of opioid misuse influences people's risk perception toward opioid misuse. Two message cues - images and concrete (vs.