Department of Communication Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Department of Communication, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jun 23;20(13):6209. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20136209.
Endometriosis affects around 10% of women globally, yet the awareness and screening rates for this condition are relatively low. Utilizing an online survey-based experiment with a sample of 18-30-year-old young women ( = 326), this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of narrative messages vs. non-narrative messages for promoting endometriosis screening intention, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of hope appeal vs. fear appeal in narrative messages. The study also examined the potential mediating mechanisms through self-efficacy and positive affect responses that may help elucidate the effect of emotional appeals on behavioral intentions, while taking into account an individual's readiness to change. Findings indicated that narrative and non-narrative messages did not produce significantly different screening intentions. Compared to the use of fear appeal, the hope appeal in narrative messages predicted a higher level of positive affect responses, which was associated with increased endometriosis screening intentions. Individual difference in readiness to engage in endometriosis screening was not found to be a significant moderator. These results have implications for future research utilizing hope appeals in narrative health messaging. The observed significant mediational pathway through positive affect advances understanding of positive discrete emotions as facilitators to health-related cognition and behavior changes.
子宫内膜异位症影响着全球约 10%的女性，然而，这种疾病的知晓率和筛查率相对较低。本研究采用基于在线调查的实验方法，对 18-30 岁的年轻女性（n=326）进行了研究，旨在探讨叙事信息与非叙事信息在促进子宫内膜异位症筛查意愿方面的效果，以及在叙事信息中，希望诉求与恐惧诉求的有效性。该研究还考察了可能的中介机制，即通过自我效能感和积极情绪反应来帮助阐明情感诉求对行为意向的影响，同时考虑到个体改变的准备程度。研究结果表明，叙事信息和非叙事信息并没有产生显著不同的筛查意愿。与使用恐惧诉求相比，叙事信息中的希望诉求预测了更高水平的积极情绪反应，这与增加子宫内膜异位症筛查意愿相关。个体对参与子宫内膜异位症筛查的准备程度差异并不是一个显著的调节因素。这些结果对未来利用叙事健康信息中的希望诉求的研究具有启示意义。通过积极情绪反应观察到的显著中介途径，加深了对积极离散情绪作为促进与健康相关的认知和行为变化的因素的理解。
