School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, BN1 9QH, UK.
Ann Behav Med. 2017 Dec;51(6):931-935. doi: 10.1007/s12160-017-9912-2.
Health-risk information is increasingly being conveyed through accounts of personal experiences or narrative information. However, whether self-affirmation can enhance the ability of such messages to promote behavior change has yet to be established.
This study aims to test whether self-affirmation (a) promotes behavior change following exposure to narrative information about the risks of excessive alcohol consumption and (b) boosts message acceptance by increasing narrative engagement.
In an experimental design, female drinkers (N = 142) reported their baseline alcohol consumption and were randomly allocated to condition (Self-Affirmation, Control). All participants next watched an extract of a genuine narrative piece in which the central character discussed her liver disease and its link with her previous alcohol consumption. Then, participants completed measures assessing engagement with the narrative and message acceptance. The primary outcome was alcohol consumption, assessed at 7-day follow-up.
Self-affirmed participants reported consuming significantly less alcohol at follow-up compared to baseline (mean 7-day decrease = 5.43 units); there was no change in alcohol consumption for the control group. Immediately post-manipulation, self-affirmed participants (vs. control) showed more message acceptance and reported greater engagement with the information. The impact of self-affirmation on message acceptance was mediated by narrative engagement.
Self-affirmation can promote behavior change following exposure to health information, even when presented in narrative form.
The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT02681900, ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02681900 ).
健康风险信息越来越多地通过个人经历或叙事信息来传达。然而，自我肯定是否能增强此类信息促进行为改变的能力尚未得到证实。
本研究旨在检验自我肯定（a）是否能促进暴露于过度饮酒风险的叙事信息后行为的改变，以及（b）是否通过增加叙事参与来提高信息接受度。
在一项实验设计中，女性饮酒者（N=142）报告了她们的基线饮酒量，并被随机分配到条件（自我肯定、对照）。所有参与者随后观看了一段真实叙事片段的节选，其中主角讨论了她的肝病及其与她以前饮酒的关系。然后，参与者完成了评估叙事参与度和信息接受度的测量。主要结果是在 7 天随访时的饮酒量。
与基线相比，自我肯定组在随访时报告的饮酒量明显减少（平均 7 天减少量=5.43 单位）；对照组的饮酒量没有变化。在操作后立即，与对照组相比，自我肯定组（与对照组相比）对信息的接受度更高，报告的信息参与度也更高。自我肯定对信息接受度的影响是通过叙事参与来介导的。
自我肯定可以促进健康信息暴露后的行为改变，即使是以叙事形式呈现。
该试验在 ClinicalTrials.gov 注册，编号为 NCT02681900，（https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02681900）。
