Narratives have been widely acknowledged as a powerful persuasion tool in health promotion and education. Recently, great efforts have been devoted to identifying message components and causal pathways that maximize a narrative's persuasion power. Specifically, we investigated how narrator point of view and readers' subjective relative risk…

Objective: The Theory of Planned Behavior has been applied to COVID-19 protective behaviors, but evidence suggests this theory may be less predictive over time and less valid in individualistic societies. The current study applied this theory among American college students as vaccines became available and added perceived risk. Participants: 242…

Objective: To understand how student perceptions of physical health and generalized concern about infection influenced engagement in COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Participants: 418 full-time undergraduate and graduate students attending a public university in South Carolina, USA. Methods: A self-administered survey was distributed during the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced children to reckon with the causal relations underlying disease transmission. What are children's theories of how COVID-19 is transmitted? And how do they understand the relation between COVID-19 susceptibility and the need for disease-mitigating behavior? We asked these questions in the context of children's…

Objective: College students play a major role in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the viral agent responsible for COVID-19. We aim to understand risk perceptions, self-efficacy, and adoption of prevention behaviors in this population to inform prevention strategies. Participants: Undergraduate students attending a large public university. Methods:…

Objective: In contrast to previous research that has primarily focused on gender differences in health behaviour compliance, this study explored the association between gender consciousness and sun protection in China - a cultural setting in which there is a pronounced gender bias towards sun protection. These article is the first attempt to…

Background: Pregnant women are at increased risk of complications from flu, but uptake of flu vaccination is below 75% targets. Evidence suggests that changing illness risk appraisals may increase vaccination behaviour. In 2018-2019, researchers, public health specialists, and pregnant women co-designed a short animation targeting (unhelpful)…

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) experience increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies suggest that a vaccine against AD may be forthcoming. Parental buy-in is critical to the success of any intervention in this population, as adults with DS often rely on familial support. This study aims to characterize parents' perceptions of…

Adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) has significant sequelae and is more prevalent among sexual and gender-diverse youth (SGDY). Increased parental involvement and communication has been linked to decreased prevalence of ARA and associated health risks. Parents of SGDY may have unique needs and experiences regarding communicating with their…

Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sponsored numerous studies testing the effectiveness of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention programs on youths' risky sexual behaviors. This article presents results from a meta-analysis of such studies completed between 2015 and 2019 and provided to us by HHS. Studies were…

Optimism bias is common across health risk assessments, including firearm injury risk, and can have behavioral consequences. Using data from the 2018 California Safety and Wellbeing Survey, we examine whether optimism bias influences firearm injury prevention practices and policy support by comparing the characteristics, behaviors, and opinions of…

This study explored the relationship between sexual health indicators and the receipt of, and perceived relevance of, school-based sexuality education. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using data from 4,189 14- to 18-year-olds who participated in a cross-sectional Australian study. Receiving sexuality education was significantly…

Objective: The key to controlling tobacco use lies in preventing new smokers. Graphic health warnings and plain packaging are policy interventions to discourage cigarette consumption. This study examined the effect of the warning message frame (gain vs loss) and cigarette packaging (branded vs plain) in non-smokers. Methods: Young adult…

Adopting an ethnographic lens, readers are provided a look inside a California high school sexuality education classroom. On this chosen day, two invited guest speakers from an outside company are teaching students about pregnancy prevention, healthy relationships, and risks associated with having sex. Analysis of the guest speakers' pedagogical…

Acceptability of a sexual violence (SV) risk reduction program called "RealConsent" designed for first-year female college students was conducted as part of a larger, randomized controlled trial. "RealConsent" uses web-based and mobile technology to deliver four 45-minute theoretically and empirically derived modules designed…