Adults and children of lower socioeconomic status (SES) are at higher risk for a wide range of communicable infectious diseases, especially respiratory infections. Greater risk for infectious illness among people with lower SES is thought to be attributable to increased exposure to infectious agents and decreased host resistance to infection. We summarize three studies that examine the prospect...

This article explores the relation of age to manifestations and antecedents of attitude strength. Three studies demonstrate that susceptibility to attitude change is greater during early and late adulthood than during middle adulthood. Three additional studies demonstrate that attitude importance, certainty, and perceived quantity of attitude-relevant knowledge are greater in middle adulthood t...

Pain is a highly subjective experience that can be substantially influenced by differences in individual susceptibility as well as personality. How susceptibility to pain and personality translate to brain activity is largely unknown. Here, we report that the functional connectivity of two key brain areas before a sensory event reflects the susceptibility to a subsequent noxious stimulus being ...

Virtual simulations allow individuals to concretely view the future negative health consequences of present dietary choices. Integrating exemplification theory with risk communication research, the effect of using virtual simulations to exemplify the health risks of soft drink consumption was assessed across 3 weeks. A three-group pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest design (N = 62) compared...

Increasingly, health communication practitioners are exploring the use of narrative storytelling to convey health information. For this study, a narrative film was produced to provide information about the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer prevention. The storyline centered on Lupita, a young woman recently diagnosed with HPV who informs her family about HPV and the availability of...

PURPOSE To identify the psychosocial and behavioral factors that influence condom use to reduce the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among young men in Ghana. METHODS This study used a cross-sectional design in which data on a community-based sample of 601 young men, 15-24 years of age, were collected by a household survey instrument. For a conceptual framework, the study ...

Background: Adolescence is a critical stage of growth and development. That is associated with changes in body shape and appearance. Issues such as irregular menstrual periods, amenorrhea, and menstrual cycle are major issues in women's health. The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of physical puberty health based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) among female adolescents. ...

Background Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional problem and one of the main reasons of anemia especially in girls. This study was designed to determine the effect of combined educational inference based on HBM model about preventing iron deficiency anemia on the enhancement of knowledge, attitude and behavior of high school girls in the Faridan city of Isfahan province. Materials a...