Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words?: Adolescent Interpretations of Parental Substance Use.

Parents are powerful socialization agents for children and as children reach adolescence parental role models, among other sources of influence, become particularly salient in adolescents' decision-making regarding initiation of substance use. Open parent-adolescent communication about substances is associated with less substance use by adolescents; however, it is unclear how youth interpret anti-drug use messages from their parents, especially if the parents engage in legal and/or illicit substance use themselves. Framed by social learning theory and social constructionism, this study analyzed in-depth interviews with 108 adolescents about personal experiences with substance use, family communication about substance use, and adolescent interpretations of parental use. Emergent themes in the data include: positive parental influence, parentalcontradictions, and negative outcomes of use. Prevalence of parental use-regardless of legality, rarity of explicit communication about parental use, and various interpretations of parental use are discussed.

The conceptualization and communication of risk among rural appalachian adolescents.

This study uses a meta-theoretical perspective for examining risk perceptions and behavior in the rural Appalachian cultural context, an area that remains largely unexplored. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 113 rural adolescents to describe how youth conceptualize risk and how risk is communicated in the rural environment. Analyses revealed adolescents viewed behavior as risky when they had personal or vicarious experiences resulting in a loss of control or physical harm. Elements of the rural Appalachian culture including activities, familism, and community ties can prevent and promote adolescent risk taking in various forms. This study demonstrates the conceptualization of risk and messages about risk are culturally situated and communicatively devised and enacted. The implications of these findings for adolescent risk prevention programs are discussed.

Mapping the processes and patterns of family organ donation discussions: conversational styles and strategies in live discourse.

People in the United States report positive attitudes toward organ donation (OD); however there is a disjoint between pro-donation attitudes and declared-donor status. OD campaigns promote family discussions to increase donor status and compliance with OD wishes. Unfortunately, the discourse processes involved in family OD discussions have not been systematically studied. This investigation explores how families enact the recommendation to have a family OD discussion by mapping patterns, processes, and implications of 21 undirected family discussions. Analyses revealed 3 discussion styles: cooperative, collaborative, and challenging. Discussions were marked by a general pro-OD norm, a focus on individual rights and family loyalty, and 2 specific communication strategies used to explore individual boundaries, hypothetical ethical scenarios and hypothetical family scenarios. Finally, this investigation offers insight into the processes of OD discussions such as topic initiation, topic shifting, and establishing consensus. This research serves as a significant step toward enhancing competent discussions about OD.

Memorable messages about genes and health: implications for direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic tests and therapies.

The era of genomic health care introduces new realities into decision-making about the prevention and treatment of disease. Despite this reality, relatively little is known about lay audience recollection of images and messages about genes and health, or their perceptions about the role of genetics research for health, and what diseases are inherited. Participants (N=482) responded to three open-ended thought-listing tasks to consider these issues. Results revealed the significance of movies in framing memorable messages for participants, with print sources and television also represented. Both awareness and product commercials also comprised specific memories. Cloning was a frequently recalled message and often the first thought that came to participants' minds. While a broad range of conditions were associated with health risks inherited from one's family, cancer was most often identified. The messages recalled revealed a number of common features including their tendency to be emotion-laden. The theoretic and pragmatic implications of these results are considered.

Behavioral health outcomes associated with religious faith and media exposure about human genetics.

A number of scholars have speculated that religious people will be less likely than others to ascribe either fatalistic or deterministic powers to genes, opting instead to leave freedom as a choice for both God and humans. This research investigates the role of religious faith (RF) on behavioral health outcomes associated with information about genes and health, as well as its role as a gatekeeper to media information about genes and health. This research is based on the results of a survey of 858 members of the lay public, including northeastern and southeastern rural and urban participants. Findings are considered within frameworks of audience segmentation principles associated with RF.