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BackgroundAs a result of demographic changes, the number of people aged 60 years and older has been increasing steadily. Therefore, older adults have become more important as a target group for health communication efforts. Various studies show that online health information sources have gained importance among younger adults, but we know little about the health-related internet use of senior citizens in general and in particular about the variables explaining their online health-related information–seeking behavior. Media use studies indicate that in addition to sociodemographic variables, lifestyle factors might play a role in this context. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine older people’s health-related internet use. Our study focused on the explanatory potential of lifestyle types over and above sociodemographic variables to predict older adults’ internet use for health information. MethodsA telephone survey was conducted with a random sample of German adults aged 60 years and older (n=701) that was quota-allocated by gender, age, educational status, and degree of urbanity of their place of residence. ResultsThe results revealed that participants used the internet infrequently (mean 1.82 [SD 1.07]), and medical personnel (mean 2.89 [SD 1.11]), family and friends (mean 2.86 [SD 1.21]), and health brochures (mean 2.85 [SD 1.21]) were their main sources of health information. A hierarchical cluster analysis based on values, interests, and leisure time activities revealed three different lifestyle types for adults aged over 60 years: the Sociable Adventurer, the Average Family Person, and the Uninterested Inactive. After adding these types as second-step predictors in a hierarchical regression model with sociodemographic variables (step 1), the explained variance increased significantly (R2=.02, P=.001), indicating that the Average Family Person and the Sociable Adventurer use the internet more often for health information than the Uninterested Inactive, over and above their sociodemographic attributes. ConclusionsOur findings indicate that the internet still plays only a minor role in the health information–seeking behavior of older German adults. Nevertheless, there are subgroups including younger, more active, down-to-earth and family-oriented males that may be reached with online health information. Our findings suggest that lifestyle types should be taken into account when predicting health-related internet use behavior.

Abstract Objective Methods Results Conclusions Endometriosis is a menstrual disorder that affects one in ten women. Diagnosis often takes several years due to low awareness and menstrual stigma. In this study, we employed a social norm approach (SNA) to investigate the effects of an educational leaflet on endometriosis knowledge, menstrual stigma, and acceptance of paid menstrual leave among women and men.The 3 × 2 online experiment tested the influence of either descriptive norm messages or both descriptive and injunctive norm messages (compared to a control group, factor 1) in an educational leaflet by taking the role of addressee’s sex into account (quasi-experimental factor 2). The study included 796 German participants aged 16–35.Men exhibited significantly poorer knowledge, stronger menstrual stigma, and weaker policy acceptance compared to women. No significant main effect of the social norm messages on menstrual stigma was found. In contrast, the combined norm messages seem to be beneficial when addressing policy acceptance. Moreover, compared to the control group, the intervention material indirectly influenced stigma and policy acceptance through increased knowledge.Providing information about social norms appears to be an effective strategy for educating not only women but especially men about menstrual disorders like endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the importance of emotions for the effects of gain-loss framed messages has been supported, the emotional effects of mixed frames have not been sufficiently investigated. To fill this gap, this experimental study exposed participants (N = 154) to single gain- or loss-framed vs. mixed frame messages about sun-protection outcomes. Integrating the idea of mixed frames with the concept of emotional flow, data were analyzed using a serial mediation model with emotional experience (as indexed by valence and arousal) and intention as factors mediating the effect of shifts on actual behavior, measured two weeks after message exposure. Results demonstrate that mixed messages and their impact on emotional experiences are not generally more effective than pure gain or pure loss messages. However, the application of mixed frame or purely loss-framed messages offers a higher potential to increase behavioral health intentions (resulting in respective behaviors) than messages simply focusing on gain frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effects of message framing and distraction on older adults' responses to a radio public service announcement (PSA) to promote influenza and pneumococci vaccinations. In detail, it addresses the message impact on recognition, attitudes toward the ad, and information-seeking intentions. The 2 × 2 online experiment was conducted in August 2019 in Germany. 378 participants aged 60 years and above received a radio PSA with either gain- or loss-framed messages (factor 1). Additionally, half of the participants completed a distraction task while listening (factor 2). Gain frames (η2 p =.02) and a non-distracted reception situation (η2 p =.04) positively influenced older adults' recognition accuracy. Recognition, in turn, was found to mediate the effect of framing and distraction on the intention to seek further information on the campaign (framing: b = -0.03, distraction: b = 0.05). We conclude that gain-framed radio PSAs are an appropriate tool to raise awareness for a vaccination campaign and its contents, especially when recipients are concentrated while listening to it. We suggest to implement them at the early stages of a health intervention to sensitize people about vaccination, followed by more in-depth information material (e.g., brochures) to create behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1929 and 1932, Sichuan militarist Liu Xiang pursued his own anti-imperialist agenda in Chongqing, a port city beyond the purview of China's 'central' Guomindang government. In both its autonomy and its defiant tactics, Liu's programme contradicted the Guomindang regime's official strategy of negotiated revision of the unequal treaties. In its concrete objectives, however, Liu's project was strikingly similar to the Guomindang's programme of shipping rights recovery, an effort to reduce the presence and power of foreign shipping in China's coastal waters and an integral part of its agenda for treaty revision. This essay examines Liu Xiang's efforts to eliminate the privileges of foreign shipping, bolster Chinese shipping and extend his regime's oversight over all shipping within his garrison area on the Upper Yangzi River. In examining Liu's local motives as well as his marginalisation of central government institutions like the Maritime Customs, the essay addresses his fraught relations with the centre, yet, in contrast to standard nationalist critique of China's early twentieth-century warlords, it also reveals how efforts like Liu's may have multiplied the sites of resistance to the unequal treaties and achieved a measure of 'decolonisation' on the periphery of central government control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging healthcare systems worldwide and is causing numerous deaths. Vaccination is an important tool to help us get back to normal; however, the majority of the public must be willing to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity. By considering postulates of message framing and socioemotional selectivity theory, this study investigated the effects of gain-loss framing on younger and older adults' reactance arousal, attitudes toward the coronavirus vaccination, vaccination intention, and recognition performance. In a 2 × 2 online experiment in October 2020, 281 participants received textual health information about future vaccination against COVID-19 with either gain- or loss-framed messages (Factor 1). Half of the participants were aged 18-30 years, and the other half were 60 years and above (quasi-experimental Factor 2). Among younger adults, we found an antagonistic pattern of effects: While loss framing positively influenced vaccination attitudes and led to stronger vaccination intentions, it simultaneously decreased recognition accuracy. In contrast, there was no framing effect on attitudes and intentions in older adults, which might be a consequence of the positivity effect. These findings can be interpreted as a first step to uncover the interaction of age and framing in the coronavirus pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).