RESEARCH PAPER
SHAPING THE FUTURE: EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL HEALTH MESSAGES AND COMMUNICATION ON PROTECTION ACTION MOTIVATION TO ADOPT PREMARITAL GENETIC TESTING
1
Institute of Media and Communication Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
2
School of Media and Communication, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
3
Department of Mass Communication, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan
4
Endicott College of International Studies, Woosong University, Dong-gu Daejeon, South Korea
5
Nursing Department, St. Elizabeth University of Health and Social Work, Bratislava, Slovakia
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2024-12-09
Final revision date: 2025-01-09
Acceptance date: 2025-01-10
Publication date: 2025-01-14
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The research area of health communication is expanding, and digital media is being widely studied. Although digital media and digital health information are pervasive, there is a huge gap in research on how they affect people's behavior. The research explores the efficacy of digital health messages and communication strategies in enhancing health literacy and health behavior interventions. The research integrated the protection action decision model and the theory of normative social behavior.
Material and methods:
The study employs a cross-sectional online survey to collect data from 520 unmarried, separated and divorced adults with potential future marriages.
Results:
The results verified that digital health messages from health authorities could ingrain the risk perception about genetic diseases and protective action perception of premarital screening, resulting in protection motivation. Likewise, the normative factor of the injunctive norm was surprisingly not significant. Digital health messages promote outcome expectations and perceptions about genetic diseases, intensifying protection motivation and the relationship between descriptive norms.
Conclusions:
The research clarified that regardless of prevailing normative beliefs about premarital testing, health messages disseminated from health authorities’ digital platforms can ingrain a greater extent of perceived risk, protective action, and outcome expectations, enhancing motivation to adopt premarital genetic testing.
The research area of health communication is expanding, and digital media is being widely studied. Although digital media and digital health information are pervasive, there is a huge gap in research on how they affect people's behavior. The research explores the efficacy of digital health messages and communication strategies in enhancing health literacy and health behavior interventions. The research integrated the protection action decision model and the theory of normative social behavior.
Material and methods:
The study employs a cross-sectional online survey to collect data from 520 unmarried, separated and divorced adults with potential future marriages.
Results:
The results verified that digital health messages from health authorities could ingrain the risk perception about genetic diseases and protective action perception of premarital screening, resulting in protection motivation. Likewise, the normative factor of the injunctive norm was surprisingly not significant. Digital health messages promote outcome expectations and perceptions about genetic diseases, intensifying protection motivation and the relationship between descriptive norms.
Conclusions:
The research clarified that regardless of prevailing normative beliefs about premarital testing, health messages disseminated from health authorities’ digital platforms can ingrain a greater extent of perceived risk, protective action, and outcome expectations, enhancing motivation to adopt premarital genetic testing.
REFERENCES (47)
1.
Jensen TL, Gøtzsche CR, Woldbye DPD. Current and future prospects for gene therapy for rare genetic diseases affecting the brain and spinal cord. Front Mol Neurosci. 2021; 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.....
2.
Caroselli S, Poli M, Gatta V, Stuppia L, Capalbo A. Preconception carrier screening and preimplantation genetic testing in the infertility management. Andrology. Forthcoming 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.1....
3.
Iqbal S, Zakar R, Fischer F, Zakar MZ. Consanguineous marriages and their association with women’s reproductive health and fertility behavior in Pakistan: secondary data analysis from Demographic and Health Surveys, 1990-2018. BMC Womens Health. 2022; 22: 118. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905....
4.
Natarajan J, Joseph MA. Premarital screening for genetic blood disorders — an integrated review on the knowledge and attitudes of Middle Eastern university students. Middle East Fertil Soc J. 2021; 26: 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43043....
5.
Alkalbani A, Alharrasi M, Achura S, Al Badi A, Al Rumhi A, Alqassabi K, et al. Factors affecting the willingness to undertake premarital screening test among prospective marital individuals. SAGE Open Nurs. 2022;8. https://doi.org/10.1177/237796....
6.
Jameel T, Baig M, Murad MA, Gazzaz ZJ, Mal Y, Alyoubi WE, et al. Consanguineous marriages, premarital screening, and genetic testing: a survey among Saudi university students. Front Public Health. 2024; 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.....
7.
Linga BSG, Mohammed SGAA, Farrell T, Rifai H Al, Al-Dewik N, Qoronfleh MW. Genomic newborn screening for pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes: a holistic approach. Cancers (Basel). 2024; 16(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/cancer....
8.
Agbozo WK, Amanor E, Acheampong EO, Kotei B, Attoh LN, Yeboah D, et al. Assessing knowledge of sickle cell disease and health beliefs on premarital genetic screening among healthcare trainees at a tertiary institution: A cross‐sectional study. Health Sci. Rep.. 2023; 6. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.1....
9.
Almoliky MA, Abdulrhman H, Safe SH, Galal M, Abdu H, Towfiq B, et al. Knowledge and attitude of engaged and recently married couples toward premarital screening: a cross-sectional study. Inquiry (United States). 2022; 59. https://doi.org/10.1177/004695....
10.
Pokharel M, Lillie HM, Jensen JD, King AJ, Ratcliff CL, Barbour JB. political party collective norms, perceived norms, and mask wearing behavior: a test of the theory of normative social behavior. Health Commun. 2024. 39(13): 3170-3179. https://doi.org/10.1080/104102....
11.
Prince SE, Muskin SE, Kramer SJ, Huang SM, Blakey T, Rappold AG. Smoke on the horizon: leveling up citizen and social science to motivate health protective responses during wildfires. Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2024; 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599....
12.
You Z, Zhan W, Zhang F. Online information acquisition affects food risk prevention behaviours: the roles of topic concern, information credibility and risk perception. BMC Public Health. 2023; 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889....
13.
Rimal RN, Lapinski MK. A re-explication of social norms, ten years later. Communication Theory. 2015; 25(4): 393-409. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.1....
14.
Chung A, Rimal RN. Social norms: a review. Review of Communication Research. 2016; 4: 1-28. https://doi.org/10.12840/issn.....
15.
Raza SH, Emenyeonu OC, Yousaf M, Iftikhar M. Citizen journalism practices during COVID-19 in spotlight: influence of user-generated contents about economic policies in perceiving government performance. Information Discovery and Delivery. 2022; 50(2): 142-54. dhttps://doi.org/10.1108/IDD-09-2020-0118.
16.
Liu PL, Ye JF, Ao HS, Sun S, Zheng Y, Li Q, et al. Effects of electronic personal health information technology on American women’s cancer screening behaviors mediated through cancer worry: differences and similarities between 2017 and 2020. Digit Health. 2023; 9. https://doi.org/10.1177/205520....
17.
Richardson-Parry A, Baas C, Donde S, Ferraiolo B, Karmo M, Maravic Z, et al. Interventions to reduce cancer screening inequities: the perspective and role of patients, advocacy groups, and empowerment organisations. Int J Equity Health. 2023; 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939....
18.
Rimal RN. Modeling the relationship between descriptive norms and behaviors: a test and extension of the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB). Health Commun. 2008; 23(2): 103-116. https://doi.org/10.1080/104102....
19.
Yoon H, Jang Y, Lapinski MK, Turner MM, Peng TQ, Lee S. The role of collective group orientation and social norms on physical distancing behaviors for disease prevention. Health Commun. 2024. 39(13): 3108-3121. https://doi.org/10.1080/104102....
20.
Wasaya A, Prentice C, Hsiao A. The influence of norms on tourist behavioural intentions. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. 2022; 50: 277-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm....
21.
Gavrilets S, Tverskoi D, Sánchez A. Modelling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2024; 379(1897). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2....
22.
Gauld C, Reeves C. Normative influences on young drivers’ illegal smartphone use: Applying an extended Theory of Normative Social Behaviour. Accid Anal Prev. 2023; 180: 106904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.....
23.
Huber S, Sattler S, Guido M. Mechanisms of perceived social norms: the mediating and moderating role of morality and outcome expectations on prescription drug misuse in the working population. Deviant Behav. 2023; 44(3): 359-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/016396....
24.
Min M. School culture, self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and teacher agency toward reform with curricular autonomy in South Korea: a social cognitive approach. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. 2023; 43(4): 951-967. https://doi.org/10.1080/021887....
25.
Wang F, Wei J, Huang SK, Lindell MK, Ge Y, Wei HL. Public reactions to the 2013 Chinese H7N9 Influenza outbreak: perceptions of risk, stakeholders, and protective actions. J Risk Res. 2018; 21(7): 809-833. https://doi.org/10.1080/136698....
26.
Horáčková K, Ochtinská H, Václavíková K, Šoukalová K, Brodský Z, Mandysová M, et al. Strategies for introducing preventive measures against respiratory diseases (influenza and COVID-19) in companies in the Czech Republic: meta-analysis. Health Prob Civil. 2023; 17(1): 12-23. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpc.20....
27.
Lindell MK, Perry RW. The protective action decision model: theoretical modifications and additional evidence. Risk Analysis. 2012; 32(4): 616-632. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539....
28.
Lindell MK, Hwang SN. Households’ perceived personal risk and responses in a multihazard environment. Risk Analysis. 2008; 28(2): 539-556. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539....
29.
Guo Q, Yao N, Zhu W. How consumers’ perception and information processing affect their acceptance of genetically modified foods in China: a risk communication perspective. Food Research International. 2020; 137: 109518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.food....
30.
Duan T, Jiang H, Deng X, Zhang Q, Wang F. Government intervention, risk perception, and the adoption of protective action recommendations: evidence from the COVID-19 prevention and control experience of China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph....
31.
Firdous P, Nissar K, Ali S, Ganai BA, Shabir U, Hassan T, et al. Genetic testing of maturity-onset diabetes of the young current status and future perspectives. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2018; 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.....
32.
Al Eissa MM, Almsned F, Alkharji RR, Aldossary YM, AlQurashi R, Hawsa EA, et al. The perception of genetic diseases andpremarital screening tests in the central region of Saudi Arabia. BMC Public Health. 2024; 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889....
33.
Webster TH, Beal SJ, Brothers KB. Motivation in the age of genomics: why genetic findings of disease susceptibility might not motivate behavior change. Life Sciences, Society and Policy. 2013; 9: 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/2195-7....
34.
Dan V, Raupp J. A systematic review of frames in news reporting of health risks: Characteristics, construct consistency vs. name diversity, and the relationship of frames to framing functions. Health Risk Soc. 2018; 20(5-6): 203-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/136985....
35.
Kang JA, Schulz P, Hubbard GT, Hwang J, Muldrow A, Barber B, et al. News framing of e-cigarettes: a cross-national study of the US, UK, and Korea. Commun Stud. 2021; 72(5): 937-956. https://doi.org/10.1080/105109....
36.
Raza SH, Ogadimma EC, Shah AA, Gorpe S. Improving community health messagreception through digital journalistic practices: mixed-method evidence on health preventive behaviors and health podcast framing for emerging health issues. Journalism. 2024; 25(9): 1956-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/146488....
37.
Zeballos Rivas DR, Lopez Jaldin ML, Nina Canaviri B, Portugal Escalante LF, Alanes Fernández AMC, Aguilar Ticona JP. Social media exposure, risk perception, preventive behaviors and attitudes during the COVID-19 epidemic in la Paz, Bolivia: a cross sectional study. PLoS One. 2021; 16(1): e0245859. https://doi.org/10.1371/journa....
38.
Sun J, Jiang X, Gao Y, He C, Wang M, Wang X, et al. Subhealth Risk Perception Scale: development and validation of a new measure. Comput Math Methods Med. 2022; 2022: 950890. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9....
39.
Wei HL, Lindell MK, Prater CS, Wei J, Wang F, Ge YG. Perceived stakeholder characteristics and protective action for influenza emergencies: a comparative study of respondents in the United States and China. Int J Mass Emerg Disasters. 2018; 36(1): 52-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/028072....
40.
Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, Anderson RE. Multivariate data analysis. Eighth edition. Hoboken: Pearson Prentice Hall; 2019.
41.
Krejcie RV. Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1970; 30(3): 607-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316....
42.
Liu RW, Cheng Y, Foerster TA. Modeling the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and willingness to practice COVID-19 preventative behaviors: a test of the mediation and moderation mechanisms in the Theory of Normative Social Behavior. Health Commun. 2023; 39(2): 339-351. https://doi.org/10.1080/104102....
43.
Raza SH, Yousaf M, Zaman U, Khan SW, Core R, Malik A. Unlocking infodemics and mysteries in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: nexus of conspiracy beliefs, digital informational support, psychological Well-being, and religious fatalism. Vaccine. 2023; 41(10): 1703-1715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacc....
44.
Susanto P, Hoque ME, Shah NU, Candra AH, Hashim NMHN, Abdullah NL. Entrepreneurial orientation and performance of SMEs: the roles of marketing capabilities and social media usage. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. 2023; 15(2): 379-403. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-0....
45.
Kožená M, Mandysová M, Brodský Z, Šatera K, Horáčková K, Václavíková K. The economic and social impact of respiratory diseases on organisations. Acta Academica. 2023; 23(1):19-31. https://doi.org/10.25142/aak.2....
46.
Václavíková K, Šoukalová K, Kožená M, Brodský Z, Mandysová M, Ochtinská H, et al. Preventive measures of respiratory diseases and impact on employee morbidity - possibilities of using electronic platforms. Mil. Med. Sci. Lett. 2024; 93(2): 206-217. 019 https://doi.org/10.31482/mmsl.....
47.
Versele V, Debekker P, Stok FM, Aerenhouts D, Clarys P, Deforche B, et al. Relative importance of determinants of changes in eating behavior during the transition to parenthood: priorities for future research and interventions. Nutrients. 2021; 13(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu1307....
| eISSN: | 2354-0265 |
| ISSN: | 2353-6942 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
