Extending the Risk Perception Attitude Framework to Predict Individuals' Engagement in Collective Actions Against Cancer.

To identify the psychosocial determinants of individuals' intention to engage in collective actions against cancer, we extended and tested the risk perception attitude (RPA) framework at the level of social perceptions. The results of a large online survey of Hong Kong citizens (N = 1,005) revealed that perceived societal risk and perceived collective efficacy directly and jointly influenced respondents' intention to engage in collective actions against cancer, namely donating to cancer charities, volunteering at cancer-prevention organizations, and supporting public policies for cancer prevention. However, the interaction between perceived societal risk and perceived collective efficacy occurred in a direction opposite to the direction in the initial RPA framework. As suggested by the framework, we also categorized individuals into four attitudinal groups based on their perceptions of societal-level risk as well as efficacy and compared their demographic and psychological characteristics. Among the findings, the four groups significantly differed in their perceptions of individual-level risk as well as efficacy, in their family cancer history, and in their intentions to engage in individual-level behaviors to prevent cancer. Altogether, our findings contribute to the literature by extending the RPA framework to individuals' societal-level perceptions and by providing evidence that the framework can benefit the development of health communication campaigns to promote engagement in collective actions to support cancer prevention.

Effect of social media use on food safety risk perception through risk characteristics: Exploring a moderated mediation model among people with different levels of science literacy.

Food safety risk (FSR) is becoming a vital issue for public health, and improving public awareness of FSR through social media is necessary. This study aims to explore specific mechanisms of FSR perception; it first categorizes 19 risk characteristics into two variables, dread and efficacy, and then examines how social media use affects perceived FSR through both variables. Additionally, the study explores the moderating effects of source credibility and science literacy on the mechanisms of FSR perception. Based on a nationwide online survey (N = 2,015) of more than six salient food safety issues in China, the study found that exposure to food safety risk information on social media can help improve perceived FSR based on the proposed "dread-efficacy processing model" (DEPM), where dread stimulates perceived risk, while efficacy suppresses risk perception. Moreover, source credibility intensifies the effect of social media use on efficacy appraisal, whereas science literacy exerts a "double-weakening" influence on dread appraisal. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Online Social Support for Intimate Partner Violence Victims in China: Quantitative and Automatic Content Analysis.

To examine the nature and content of messages presented in a popular Chinese online community about intimate partner violence (IPV), this study utilized a two-step analytic approach that combined quantitative content analysis and automatic content analysis. We collected 90,040 messages from the online community's IPV group. Study 1 analyzed 8,343 randomly selected messages. The findings suggest that social support is commonly presented, while only a few messages expressed blame toward the victims. Study 2 analyzed the whole sample via machine learning technique and further showed that this online community was a space for the victims to obtain informational resources and emotional encouragement.

Mental Health Conditions in Young Asian Adults and Motivation to Seek Counseling: A Cross-Country Study.

Mental illness is a prevalent and pressing public health problem among the Asian population, especially among young adults. This study examined the psychosocial predictors of the intention to seek counseling based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the effects of mental health conditions on the relative contributions of the TPB predictors in forming the intention among Asian young adults. The survey results in Singapore (n = 232) and Hong Kong (n = 998) revealed that attitudes, descriptive norms, and self-efficacy significantly predicted the intention to seek counseling in both Asian sites. In addition, the descriptive norms-intention association was stronger among those in a better mental health condition than among those with a worse mental health condition for both samples. The findings extend the literature on the TPB, as well as provide tailored strategies to promote counseling seeking among Asian young adults.

Offspring Caregivers of Chinese Women with Breast Cancer: Their Social Support Requests and Provision on Social Media.

Background:Although a number of studies have examined social support needs among women with breast cancer, little attention has been paid to the burden and needs for social support among their family caregivers, who often report mental and physical problems associated with caregiving.Objective:This study aims to examine the role of social media in providing social support for offspring caregivers of breast cancer patients.Methods:A peer support group, "Having a breast cancer patient in my family," was created on Douban (www.douban.com), one of China's most popular social media sites, to provide social support to family caregivers of women with breast cancer. We analyzed the content of 784 messages in the discussion threads where the latest update fell between January 2017 and July 2017.Results:The results revealed that the majority of messages (n = 690, 88.0%) provided or requested social support, and more than 64.5% of these messages (n = 445) were posted by caregivers who were offspring of the cancer patients. The results also suggested that these caregivers requested and provided informational support more frequently than they did emotional and instrumental support.Conclusions:This study suggests that social media could be a plausible platform for offspring caregivers of breast cancer patients to share caregiving experiences, access informational resources for their care recipients, gain knowledge about breast cancer prevention, and obtain emotional encouragement. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.