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Open access publications by faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Department of Communications.
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Item A Reflection on the Relationship Between Place and Health: Understanding Undergraduate Student Experiences and Priorities During the COVID-19 Pandemic(Delaware Journal of Public Health, 2022-08) Rao, Abhigna; Hoffman, Lindsay; Bleakley, Amy; Karpyn, AllisonEnvironment and setting have a large influence on matters of population health, and college is a critical place for students, shaping both health and education. College students across the nation were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes at universities left many anxious, isolated, and coping with social, emotional, and educational impacts. Objective: To perform a data analysis of the qualitative responses garnered through the Student Return to Campus Survey administered at the University of Delaware (UD) in Spring 2020, and to identify common themes of student experiences and priorities during the pandemic years to inform future recommendations for health crisis management. Methods: The study utilized secondary data analysis from an online student experience survey of 2,941 Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior students from the 2020-2021 academic year. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed a set of common outstanding themes influencing the college pandemic experience, including: Quality and Accessibility of Education in a Virtual Learning Environment; Quality of Student Life; Mental Health During the Pandemic; Thoughts and Attitudes About Vaccination Policies, Masking, Testing, and COVID Guidelines; Priorities and Considerations About the Return to Campus; and Overall Feelings About the Pandemic at UD. Conclusions: Student experiences were influenced by academic, social, emotional, and financial factors, which were often described with great intensity, and were at times contradictory. Students emphasized struggles with transitioning to and with virtual learning, the quality of campus resources, financial responsibilities, family health, and personal health. The results also shed light on the importance of communication with the campus community and the desire for students to express opinions during a crisis. Health Policy Implications: The results of this study have implications for crisis management for college campuses and planning for future responses to unanticipated events and ongoing COVID-19 mitigation efforts.Item An Exploratory Study of the Associations Between Epstein–Barr Virus Antibodies and Forgiveness Among Recipients of Relational Transgressions in the USA(Journal of Religion and Health, 2024-11-30) Crowley, John P.; Denes, Amanda; Richards, Adam; Whitt, Joseph; Makos, ShanaForgiveness is an important component of many of the world’s religions that also has benefits for individuals’ health and relationships. Research on the health benefits of forgiveness is couched predominately in the stress and coping framework, which views forgiveness as buffering the stress associated with unforgiving feelings. This exploratory study (N = 47) elaborated on the stress and coping framework by investigating it in conversation with an evolutionary approach. Specifically, this study examined one’s own forgiveness index (i.e., the interaction of exploitation risk and relationship value) as moderating an association between forgiveness and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) antibodies. The results indicated that forgiveness shared no significant association with EBV antibodies at low (16th percentile) levels of relationship value (b = − 11, p = .643), but shared an increasingly significant negative association at moderate (50th percentile: b = − 49, p = .038) and high (84th percentile: b = − 84, p = .009) levels, suggesting that forgiveness was more strongly linked to enhanced immune function when occurring in higher valued relationships. Implications for religion, theory, and methodological comparison are discussed.Item Athletes Drink Gatorade: DMA Advertising Expenditures, Ad Recall, and Athletic Identity Influence Energy and Sports Drink Consumption(Health Communication, 2022-10-10) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Bleakley, Amy; Hennessy, Michael; Jordan, Amy; Stevens, Robin; Maloney, ErinUnderstanding why sports and energy drinks remain increasingly popular among adolescents despite declines in other sugar sweetened beverages is critical. This study points to memory for advertising exposure and adolescent athletic identity as two aspects that together help to explain consumption. An online survey of U.S. adolescents aged 14–18 (n = 503) was combined with Nielsen data for television and social media advertising expenditures by sports and energy drink brands in participants’ designated market areas (DMAs). Advertisement recall mediates the relationship between social media DMA expenditures and sports and energy drink consumption. Recall for television advertisements is related to consumption but is unrelated to television DMA expenditures. Athletic identity moderated the relationship between recall and consumption such that consumption increased as both recall and athletic identity increased, suggesting a role for motivated memory and motivated processing of ad messages based on athletic identity consistent with the limited capacity model of motivated media message processing. Based on these results, we conclude that effectiveness of expenditures in influencing behavior is dependent upon both ad recall and ad relevance, and that athletic identity is an important factor in ad effectiveness in the context of sports and energy drinks advertising.Item Charlottesville, January 6 and Incitement: Can Civil Conspiracy Laws Permit an End-Run around Brandenburg v. Ohio?(Communication Law Review, 2022) Dee, JulietIn this article we analyze how courts have applied the federal Anti-Riot Act, the Brandenburg test for incitement, and civil conspiracy laws to two events: 1) the 2017 Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Virginia, and 2) the January 6, 2021 insurrection and the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The thesis of this article is that civil conspiracy laws will be more effective for plaintiffs seeking redress of grievances against Donald Trump for the January 6, 2021 insurrection than will invoking the federal Anti-Riot Act because the Brandenburg test’s requirement of proving a speaker’s intent to incite violence is too steep a hill to climb. When plaintiffs file civil conspiracy suits, there is no guarantee that they will prevail. Whether they win or lose, however, they may be trying to turn a civil trial into a public forum in order to focus society’s attention on grievous wrongs that they have suffered.Item Comparison of Sales From Vending Machines With 4 Different Food and Beverage Messages: A Randomized Trial(Jama Network Open, 2024-05-08) Gibson, Laura A.; Stephens-Shields, Alisa J.; Hua, Sophia V.; Orr, Jennifer A.; Lawman, Hannah G.; Bleich, Sara N.; Volpp, Kevin G.; Bleakley, Amy; Thorndike, Anne N.; Roberto, Christina A.Importance Point-of-sale food messaging can encourage healthier purchases, but no studies have directly compared multiple interventions in the field. Objective To examine which of 4 food and beverage messages would increase healthier vending machine purchases. Design, Setting, and Participants This randomized trial assessed 13 months (February 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020) of vending sales data from 267 machines and 1065 customer purchase assessments from vending machines on government property in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Data analysis was performed from March 5, 2020, to November 8, 2022. Interventions Study interventions were 4 food and beverage messaging systems: (1) beverage tax posters encouraging healthy choices because of the Philadelphia tax on sweetened drinks; (2) green labels for healthy products; (3) traffic light labels: green (healthy), yellow (moderately healthy), or red (unhealthy); or (4) physical activity equivalent labels (minutes of activity to metabolize product calories). Main Outcomes and Measures Sales data were analyzed separately for beverages and snacks. The main outcomes analyzed at the transaction level were calories sold and the health status (using traffic light criteria) of each item sold. Additional outcomes were analyzed at the monthly machine level: total units sold, calories sold, and units of each health status sold. The customer purchase assessment outcome was calories purchased per vending trip. Results Monthly sales data came from 150 beverage and 117 snack vending machines, whereas 1065 customers (558 [52%] male) contributed purchase assessment data. Traffic light labels led to a 30% decrease in the mean monthly number of unhealthy beverages sold (mean ratio [MR], 0.70; 95% CI, 0.55-0.88) compared with beverage tax posters. Physical activity labels led to a 34% (MR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.51-0.87) reduction in the number of unhealthy beverages sold at the machine level and 35% (MR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.50-0.86) reduction in mean calories sold. Traffic light labels also led to a 30-calorie reduction (b = −30.46; 95% CI, −49.36 to −11.56) per customer trip in the customer purchase analyses compared to physical activity labels. There were very few significant differences for snack machines. Conclusions and Relevance In this 13-month randomized trial of 267 vending machines, the traffic light and physical activity labels encouraged healthier beverage purchases, but no change in snack sales, compared with a beverage tax poster. Corporations and governments should consider such labeling approaches to promote healthier beverage choices. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06260176Item The complicated impact of media use before bed on sleep: Results from a combination of objective EEG sleep measurement and media diaries(Journal of Sleep Research, 2022-02-08) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Ulusoy, Ezgi; Eden, Allison; Hahn, Lindsay; Yang, Chia-Lun; Tucker, Robin M.Media use has been linked to sleep disturbance, but the results are inconsistent. This study explores moderating conditions. A media diary study with 58 free-living adults measured the time spent with media before bed, the location of use, and multitasking. Electroencephalography (EEG) captured bedtime, total sleep time, and the percent of time spent in deep (Stage N3), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Media use in the hour before sleep onset was associated with an earlier bedtime. If the before bed use did not involve multitasking and was conducted in bed, that use was also associated with more total sleep time. Media use duration was positively associated with (later) bedtime and negatively associated with total sleep time. Sleep quality, operationalised as the percent of total sleep time spent in N3 and REM sleep, was unaffected by media use before bed. Bedtime media use might not be as detrimental for sleep as some previous research has shown. Important contextual variables moderate the relationship, such as location, multitasking, and session length.Item Cycle Syncing and TikTok’s Digital Landscape: A Reasoned Action Elicitation Through a Critical Feminist Lens(Qualitative Health Research, 2024-11-22) Pfender, Emily J.; Kuijpers, Katelynn L.; Wanzer, Claire V.; Bleakley, AmyCycle syncing is a menstrual health trend on TikTok that involves aligning exercise and diet with the four menstrual cycle phases. Cycle syncing is part of the conversation on social media about women’s reproductive health. However, clinical research on the effects of cycle syncing is inconclusive, and there is the potential that this trend could further perpetuate misinformation and gender stereotypes. Research suggests that social media can affect health behaviors, highlighting the need to understand if women intend to participate in cycle syncing. Guided by the Reasoned Action Approach, this study used focus groups (n = 39) to examine young women’s attitudes, normative beliefs, and control beliefs about participating in cycle syncing, and critical feminist theory to sensitize resulting themes. Results suggest that normative beliefs emphasize support for the behavior among women, yet participants suggest that men would not support this behavior. Additionally, positive beliefs about cycle syncing content sourced from inconclusive scientific literature underscores concerns regarding the potential dissemination of misinformation in women’s health practices on social media. Findings also fit into a larger discussion about “hormonophobia” and contraception on social media. Theoretical implications for mixed methods research and future directions are discussed.Item Factors associated with COVID-19 masking behavior: an application of the Health Belief Model(Health Education Research, 2022-10-18) White, Allie; Maloney, Erin; Boehm, Michele; Bleakley, Amy; Langbaum, JessicaWearing a face mask is effective in minimizing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among unvaccinated individuals and preventing severe illness among the vaccinated. Country, state and local guidelines promote, and at times mandate, mask-wearing despite it being publicly perceived as an individual’s choice. Guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM), structural equation modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data in a sample of US adults aged 18–49 years to identify constructs that contribute to face mask-wearing. Results indicated that perceived COVID-19 severity, perceived masking benefits and self-efficacy were positively associated with masking behavior, and masking barriers were negatively associated with masking behavior. Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 and cues to action were nonsignificant correlates of masking behavior. These results’ theoretical and practical implications contribute to the literature on the HBM and the COVID-19 pandemic. Future directions and limitations are discussed.Item Fighting back: Is defamation law a double-edged sword for #MeToo victims?(First Amendment Studies, 2021-11-04) Dee, JulietDuring the past half-century, countless women have been victims of sexual harassment, groping, and rape. When the #MeToo Movement gained momentum in October 2017, women who had victimized began to speak out. If women who were victims of sexual predators had not originally reported being raped but came forward as part of the #MeToo movement two or three decades later and the perpetrators denied it (in essence, accusing the victims of lying), their only legal recourse has been to sue the sexual predators for defamation. The law of defamation is a double-edged sword, however, because if victims use social media platforms to “name and shame” the men who raped them, the perpetrators have also sued their alleged victims for libel. This discussion examines the effectiveness of turning to defamation law as a means of redressing grievances in #MeToo cases, and also applies critical legal theory to these cases. In other words, if there is pervasive structural inequity in the legal system, meaning that perpetrators are often wealthy and powerful men who can easily afford attorneys’ fees, can victims still prevail in court, or can wealthy and powerful perpetrators buy their victims’ silence with non-disclosure agreements?Item Gender Moderates the Relationship Between Avatar Customization and Enjoyment in Popular Video Games(Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2024-03-08) Devlin, M. Marie; Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Oittinen, ErinUsing online survey methods (n = 153), this study investigates whether exposure to different levels of customization in games will increase the experiences of enjoyment, both directly and indirectly, through the experience of avatar embodiment, as well as whether these relationships are influenced by gender identity. Results indicate a positive relationship between level of exposure to customization and enjoyment for women-identified participants. These outcomes may provide insight into gendered preference in gaming, potentially providing an avenue by which to make games more inclusive to women gamers.Item Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS 2)(Computers in Human Behavior, 2010-04-03) Caplan, Scott E.This study tested an updated cognitive-behavioral model of generalized problematic Internet use and reports results of a confirmatory analysis of the Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 (GPIUS2). Overall, the results indicated that a preference for online social interaction and use of the Internet for mood regulation, predict deficient self-regulation of Internet use (i.e., compulsive Internet use and a cognitive preoccupation with the Internet). In turn, deficient self-regulation was a significant predictor of the extent to which one’s Internet use led to negative outcomes. Results indicated the model fit the data well and variables in the model accounted for 27% of the variance in mood regulation scores, 65% of variance in participants’ deficient self-regulation scores, and 61% of variance in the negative outcome scores.Item Helping and Hurting on the TV Screen: Bounded Generalized Reciprocity and Interracial Group Expectations(Media Psychology, 2022-02-01) Holt, Lanier F.; Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Ewoldsen, David R.; Velez, JohnTwo survey studies, one with a college sample (Study 1, n = 245) and one with a national U.S. adult sample (Study 2, n = 590) examined how media messages can influence attitudes toward Black people in the U.S. A novel contribution is the role of Bounded Generalized Reciprocity, or the belief that members of an outgroup are likely to return a favor (positive), or enact retribution for a wrong (negative) as a factor in the relationship between television use and attitudes. Study 1 (college student sample) found support for a relationship between lifetime television exposure and negative attitudes, mediated by negative reciprocity beliefs. Study 2 (U.S. adult sample) found support for an ambivalence effect, where lifetime television exposure was associated with increases in both positive and negative reciprocity beliefs. This indicates that reciprocity beliefs can be cultivated similarly to other kinds of beliefs (e.g., crime frequency, mean world), and that these beliefs have downstream relationships with racial attitudes. The direction in which they are influenced by television use remains an open question, and likely depends on TV content patterns over time.Item How intention to join an Alzheimer's participant recruitment registry differs by race, ethnicity, sex, and family history: Results from a national survey of US adults(Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2023-05-19) Langbaum, Jessica B.; Maloney, Erin; Hennessy, Michael; Harkins, Kristin; Karlawish, Jason; Nosheny, Rachel L.; Bleakley, AmyINTRODUCTION Alzheimer's-focused participant recruitment registries are tools for accelerating enrollment into studies, however, registry members are primarily White women. METHODS We conducted a national online survey of 1501 adults ages 50–80, oversampling for Black and Hispanic/Latino respondents, assessing intention to join a generic “brain health” registry and to join a registry that required specific tasks. RESULTS Intention to join a registry was low (M 3.48, SD 1.77), and lower than intention to join a registry requiring specific tasks. Intention was greatest for registries requiring completing surveys (M 4.70, SD 1.77). Differences in intention were primarily between White women and Black women; differences between other groups were limited to specific tasks required. DISCUSSION The results indicate uncertainty about what a registry is, its purpose, and/or the concept of “brain health.” Using the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) to develop evidence-based outreach messages describing a registry and required tasks may increase diversity.Item Is Bedtime Media Use Good or Bad? A Competitive Analysis Between the Sleep Displacement Hypothesis and the Media Recovery Hypothesis(Media Psychology, 2024-11-12) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Eden, Allison; Ulusoy, Ezgi; Wirz, Dominique; Grady, SaraBedtime media use is often maligned in research and pop culture. However, the evidence for the relationship between bedtime media use and sleep for adults has been mixed – sometimes sleep quality is negatively affected by media use, sometimes it is positively affected. Competing explanations include the sleep displacement hypothesis (i.e. media use leads to later sleep onset, less total sleep, and lower sleep quality) and the media recovery hypothesis (i.e. media use helps reduce stress, and this relaxation helps people fall and stay asleep). Two retrospective diary studies test these competing hypotheses in an undergraduate sample (n = 200) and a general population U.S. adult sample (n = 202). Overall, results provide more support for the sleep displacement hypothesis than for the media recovery hypothesis. However, some evidence suggests potential for positive relationships between media use and sleep. More work is needed to explicate the complicated relationship between bedtime media use and sleep.Item I’m Lovin’ It: How Fast Food Advertising Influences Meat-Eating Preferences(Journal of Health Communication, 2022-05-02) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Zeldes, Geraldine; Hall, Elizabeth Dorrance; Chavez, Manuel; Takahashi, Bruno; Bleakley, Amy; Plasencia, JulieOverconsumption of red and processed meat is associated with a multitude of negative health outcomes. Previous research shows exposure to advertising messaging can influence dietary behaviors but research on the influence of meat advertising on diet, specifically, is scant. Theoretically informed by the Reasoned Action Approach, the present experiment randomly assigned participants to view a version of a print McDonald’s advertisement that included meat imagery (a Big Mac), non-meat imagery (French fries), or no food (just the McDonalds’ logo and slogan), which acted as a control. An online survey in the United States included 514 U.S. adults (Mage = 51 years). Participants exposed to meat imagery compared to the non-meat imagery reported a higher desire to eat meat. The meat imagery and control conditions were also significantly associated with increased cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, compared to when respondents were shown the no-meat condition. Desire to eat meat, but not the cognitive accessibility of meat concepts, was significantly associated with attitude, normative pressure, and perceived behavioral control for avoiding eating meat one day per week; these constructs predicted intention and willingness to avoid meat. Results indicate that exposure to meat imagery in advertising does have the potential to influence meat consumption behavior and also has implications for the use of meat imagery in persuasive messaging for public health campaigns.Item Media Messages and U.S. Public Opinion about Artificial Intelligence(Department of Communication, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 2020-08) Brewer, Paul; Wilson, David; Bingaman, James; Paintsil, Ashley; Obozintsev, Lucy; Brewer, Paul; Wilson, DavidA national survey conducted March 17-27, 2020 and supervised by researchers at the University of Delaware finds that the American public holds favorable but wary views on artificial intelligence (AI). Most Americans support the development of AI, a plurality support public funding for it, and few support banning it. A majority also favor regulating the technology. The survey finds widespread support for AI uses involving military drones and diagnosing diseases, but opinions are more divided on self-driving vehicles and facial identification. Americans are similarly divided on whether AI will have mostly positive or mixed effects on society. Only a small percentage believe the technology will do more harm than good. Most Americans are hopeful that AI will create jobs, improve health care, help stop harmful content online, prevent terrorism, catch criminals, and make day-to-day life easier. Yet large majorities are worried that AI will eliminate jobs, invade people’s privacy, help spread harmful content online, and enable cyber-attacks. More than half of Americans also say they worry that AI may eventually pose a threat to the existence of the human race. The public trusts university researchers, technology companies, and the U.S. military to develop and use AI. By contrast, only one in three Americans trusts the government in Washington to do so. Experiences with media and technology are linked to positive views of AI, and messages about the technology shape opinions toward it.Item Media Use and Political Trust in Kenya: Media Malaise or Virtuous Circle?(International Journal of Communication, 2023) Kipkoech, GilbertAlthough there is a large corpus of research on the relationship between media use and political trust, this scholarship mainly comes from the experiences of audiences in the West and Confucian Asia. The current study departs from these contexts by investigating the association between news media exposure and political trust in a growing African democracy—Kenya. Hierarchical regressions analyses were conducted using data from a national representative sample (N = 2,400). The findings show that news media use and particularly television news use is negatively related to political trust while newspaper reading, listening to the radio, and digital news use do not predict confidence in political actors. Moreover, political performance and perceived corruption significantly moderate this relationship while subjective economic evaluations do not moderate the hypothesized relationship.Item Media Use, Interpersonal Communication, and Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence(Science Communication, 2022-10-17) Brewer, Paul R.; Bingaman, James; Paintsil, Ashley; Wilson, David C.; Dawson, WyattThis study examines how members of the public frame artificial intelligence (AI) along with how news use predicts “frames in mind” for AI. The study also tests whether news use, science fiction viewing, and discussing technology influence attitudes toward AI independently and in conjunction with one another. The analyses use data from a nationally representative online panel survey. Respondents invoked social progress and Pandora’s box frames for AI, and technology news use predicted mentioning each frame. Use of technology news also predicted change in support for AI, while science fiction viewing and discussing technology were conditionally related to such change.Item Nonverbal immediacy cues and impression formation in video therapy(Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 2022-08-01) Pfender, Emily; Caplan, ScottThe increased use of video-mediated communication (VMC) due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread acceptance of mediated healthcare appointments. Mental health care is one area in which researchers might examine the effects of VMC. Therefore, the current study employed an experiment to test the relative influence of video therapists’ eye contact and gesture on a patient. Each participant was assigned to one of the four possible video conditions using a 2 (Gestures present versus absent) x 2 (Eye contact present versus absent) factorial design. Study participants (n= 359) rated actors portraying themselves as video therapists on items related to impression formation (i.e. likable, warm, understanding). Findings suggest that participants in the eye contact condition reported more positive impressions than in the no eye contact condition. Similarly, participants in the gesture condition reported more positive impressions than in the no gesture condition. However, gestures had a larger effect on impression formation than eye contact, and there was no interaction effect considering the combined impact of gestures and eye contact. These results contribute to understanding how nonverbal cues impact health outcomes in VMC.Item Preventive behavior intention for a viral outbreak among college students: The case of Mpox(Journal of American College Health, 2024-07-31) Ellithorpe, Morgan E.; Adams, Robyn B.Objective Examine college students’ behavior intention to reduce viral outbreak transmission in the context of Mpox, and what preventive messaging strategies would be most effective in future transmissible disease outbreaks based on the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA). Participants Undergraduates at a mid-Atlantic U.S. University. Methods An online survey (n = 266) conducted at the height of the recent Mpox outbreak in the U.S., asked about five target behaviors to reduce Mpox transmission, including RAA determinants for each behavior. Results Highest intention was safe sex practices, lowest were vaccination and sexual abstinence, and sharing dishes and fabrics were in between. RAA determinants differed by target behavior, although attitudes were significantly positively associated with intention for all five behaviors. Conclusions College students are potentially open to preventative behaviors to reduce viral transmission during an outbreak. However, specific target behavior matters and messaging should focus on differing RAA determinants depending on target behavior.