Is a diverse sample of college students motivated by compassionate, neutral, or fear-inducing language in COVID-19 crisis messages?

Objective: During public health emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 illness pandemic, it is essential to rapidly disseminate crisis messages which often contain embedded health directives. This study investigated which of three variants of the same messages (neutral tone, positive/compassionate tone, negative/fear-inducing tone) were most likely to motivate readers to engage in the health behavior proscribed in the message. Participants: Participants were 87 female and 41 male undergraduates at an urban university in the northeast U.S. Methods: A survey with three versions of eight different COVID messages containing health directives was administered. Results: Those who indicated stronger influence of positive/compassionate crisis messages (i.e., had higher Crisis Messages Survey scores) had higher adaptive health engagement scores, lower worry scores, and were likely to have had a past diagnosis of COVID-19. Moreover, a regression model including COVID-19 status and worry scores accounted for a significant proportion of variance in Crisis Messages Survey scores. Conclusions: Findings indicate that the use of neutral and compassionate language is optimal in motivating health behaviors embedded in university crisis messages.

Which Variant of Anxiety Is Associated with Smartphone Expertise in Community Dwelling Older Adults?

OBJECTIVES: Older adults vary greatly in their mastery of state-of-the-art smartphones. Anxiety may function as a barrier to technological expertise. This study characterizes an older community-dwelling sample (n = 71) in terms of their levels of demonstrated smartphone expertise relative to variants of anxiety (e.g., trait, social, tech-related). METHODS: A 20-step behavioral smartphone challenge task, the Smartphone Task for Older Adults (STOA), was used to evaluate older adults' knowledge of a range of smartphone functions. Self-report measures of anxiety symptoms and perceived digital proficiency were also administered. RESULTS: STOA scores were relatively low (x = 8.26, s.d. = 5.65) and showed negative relations with tech-anxiety and in-vivo frustration, but not social or trait anxiety. A hierarchical regression model indicated that tech-related anxiety and in-vivo frustration contributed significantly to STOA scores, above and beyond established predictors such as education. CONCLUSIONS: Tech-anxiety and frustration while learning new smartphone functions may characterize the next cohort of older adults who have not effectively mastered the use of smartphones. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Anxiety management skills derived from cognitive behavior therapy and other self-regulation tools could help those who experience tech-anxiety or frustration during smartphone training, facilitating the development of expertise.