How Emotional Shifts Effect Youth Perceptions of Opioid Risk and Efficacy: Testing a Know the Truth Campaign Narrative. Issue 14 (6th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Adams, Elizabeth Troutman; Nabi, Robin L.; Noar, Seth M.; Evans, Reina; Widman, Laura
• Is Part Of: Health communication. Volume 37:Issue 14(2022)
• Page Start: 1820
• Page End: 1831
• Publication Date: 2022-12-06
• Subjects: Communication in medicine -- Periodicals; Health in mass media -- Periodicals; 362.1014
• DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2021.1921349
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1041-0236

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Integrating the extended parallel process model (EPPM) and the emotional flow hypothesis, we tested the persuasive effect of emotional shifts during exposure to a Know the Truth anti-opioid campaign narrative in a sample of middle-school students ( n = 480). Testing two emotional flow sequences (threat to efficacy and efficacy to threat) of the Know the Truth narrative against a static (threat-only) emotional condition, we found that youth exposed to any emotional flow narrative reported higher levels of hope and lower levels of fear than those exposed to a threat-only narrative. We also found that a threat to efficacy narrative elicited higher levels of self-efficacy than an efficacy to threat emotional flow condition, suggesting that the emotional sequence influences self-efficacy, a well-established predictor of health behavior change. We conclude that the traditional threat to efficacy emotional flow may be superior to its inverse (efficacy to threat) when communicating with young people about opioid addiction. Implications for message design are discussed.