Communicating with Sensation Seekers: An fMRI Study of Neural Responses to Antidrug Public Service Announcements.

This study examined the neural basis of processing high- and low-message sensation value (MSV) antidrug public service announcements (PSAs) in high (HSS) and low sensation seekers (LSS) using fMRI. HSS more strongly engaged the salience network when processing PSAs (versus LSS), suggesting that high-MSV PSAs attracted their attention. HSS and LSS participants who engaged higher level cognitive processing regions reported that the PSAs were more convincing and believable and recalled the PSAs better immediately after testing.

Programmatic research to increase the effectiveness of health communication campaigns.

This article reviews a long program of research designed to investigate ways to increase the effectiveness of televised antidrug public service announcements. The review highlights the importance of audience targeting (adolescent and young adult high sensation seekers) and message design (message sensation value) in campaign research. It also emphasizes the role of theory and evaluation in programmatic research.

Effects of a school-based, theory-driven HIV and pregnancy prevention curriculum.

Context: Although a number of interventions are effective at reducing risky adolescent sexual behavior, it may be possible to make them even more effective by addressing adolescents' approaches to risk-taking.

Methods: Schools were assigned to teach one of three curricula in a quasi-experimental intervention study: the school's standard pregnancy and HIV prevention curriculum; the Reducing the Risk curriculum; or a modified Reducing the Risk curriculum, adapted for high sensation seekers and impulsive decision makers. A sample of 1,944 students from 17 schools was surveyed at three time points between 1995 and 1997.

Effects of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Marijuana Initiative Campaign on high-sensation-seeking adolescents.

Objectives: We evaluated the effects of the Marijuana Initiative portion of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign on high-sensation-seeking and low-sensation-seeking adolescents.

Methods: Personal interviews were conducted via laptop computers with independent monthly random samples of 100 youths from the same age cohort in each of 2 moderate-sized communities over 48 months (April 1999-March 2003) of the campaign, including the critical first 6 months of the 9-month initiative. The start of the initiative was treated as an "interruption" in time-series analyses of the combined community sample.