Three classes of theories about message effects in cancer control are presented in a special supplement to Volume 56 of the Journal of Communication, edited by Joseph N. Cappella and Barbara K. Rimer. This special issue, published in August, is available online to ICA members through the Blackwell Publishing website (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/JCOM).
The supplemental issue resulted from papers submitted to a workshop entitled "Integrating Theories of Message Effects and Health Behavior Change to Improve Cancer Control," held at the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania in November 2003 (sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and cosponsored by ICA and the Annenberg Public Policy Center). The workshop's goals were to investigate the integration of three classes of theories-behavior change, information processing, and message effects theories-in their application to the prevention of risky behavior and adoption of healthy behaviors, particularly as regards the design of messages for cancer control. It sought to create a dialogue among researchers in all of these areas, in order to improve theoretical coherence and applications in health communication.
The 13 resulting journal articles are not just different approaches to a complex problem, but offer complementary perspectives on the effects of messages on audiences. Thus they allow integration across theories and across the many different kinds of scientists who conduct such research.
The Journal of Communication supplement includes the following articles:
The Role of Theory in Developing Effective Health Communications
Martin Fishbein and Joseph N. Cappella
The Effects of Beliefs about the Health Consequences of Cigarette Smoking on Smoking Onset
Jon A. Krosnick, Linchiat Chang, Steven J. Sherman, Laurie Chassin and Clark Presson
Sensation Seeking, the Activation Model, and Mass Media Health Campaigns Current Findings and Future Directions for Cancer Communication
Michael T. Stephenson and Brian G. Southwell
Using the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing to Design Effective Cancer Communication Messages
Annie Lang
Fundamental Processes Leading to Attitude Change Implications for Cancer Prevention Communications
Pablo Briņol and Richard E. Petty
Persuasion According to the Unimodel Implications for Cancer Communication
Arie W. Kruglanski, Xiaoyan Chen, Antonio Pierro, Lucia Mannetti, Hans-Peter Erb and Scott Spiegel
The Persuasive Influence of Emotion in Cancer Prevention and Detection Messages
James Price Dillard and Robin L. Nabi
The Functions of Affect in Health Communications and in the Construction of Health Preferences
Ellen Peters, Isaac Lipkus and Michael A. Diefenbach
Narratives and Cancer Communication
Melanie C. Green
Advancing Tailored Health Communication a Persuasion and Message Effects Perspective
Barbara K. Rimer and Matthew W. Kreuter
The Strategic Use of Gain- and Loss-Framed Messages to Promote Healthy Behavior: How Theory Can Inform Practice
Alexander J. Rothman, Roger D. Bartels, Jhon Wlaschin and Peter Salovey
Exemplification Effects in the Promotion of Safety and Health
Dolf Zillmann
Message Effects and Social Determinants of Health Its Application to Cancer Disparities
K. Viswanath and Karen M. Emmons
Integrating Message Effects and Behavior Change Theories Organizing Comments and Unanswered Questions
Joseph N. Cappella
The theories presented in this Journal of Communication supplement are pertinent to the effects that cancer-control messages can have. Understanding the relationships among these theories is a major challenge, but one for which the payoff could be significant improvement in health.
