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- Title
Using Self-affirmation to Increase the Effects of Emotive Health Warnings on Smoking: A Randomized Exploratory Trial.
- Authors
Memish, Kate E.; Schüz, Natalie; Frandsen, Mai; Ferguson, Stuart G.; Schüz, Benjamin
- Abstract
<bold>Introduction: </bold>Emotive health messages are widely used tools in tobacco control. However, under some circumstances, they can be less effective than desired by eliciting defensive responses in smokers.<bold>Aims: </bold>This study tests whether enhancing a currently used emotive graphic smoking health warning with a self-affirmation component reduces cigarette consumption and whether potential effects are stronger in heavier smokers, as suggested by previous research.<bold>Methods: </bold>Participants (n = 265) were randomly allocated to a self-affirmation (reflecting on personal values and positive traits using a questionnaire) or matched control condition before viewing an emotive graphic health message from a current Australian government public health campaign. The primary outcome (cigarettes per day [CPD]) was assessed both before and a week following the intervention.<bold>Results: </bold>No main effect of self-affirmation on smoking, but as hypothesized, a significant interaction between baseline smoking and self-affirmation was found that showed that heavier smokers (>21 CPD) who self-affirmed significantly reduced CPD compared to nonaffirmed smokers.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>These findings support the use of self-affirmation to enhance smoking awareness campaigns in heavier smokers.<bold>Implications: </bold>This study shows that enhancing emotive graphic smoking health messages with self-affirmation (the act of reflecting on positive aspects of oneself) increases their effectiveness in heavier smokers. This suggests that self-affirmation might be a particularly useful tool for health promotion targeting heavier smokers. This study adds to previous research in that it is the first to test the add-on effects of self-affirmation to current graphic health messages on smoking rather than smoking-related cognitions.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; SELF-affirmation theory; WARNING label policy; PHYSIOLOGICAL effects of tobacco; GRAPHIC design; ANTI-smoking campaigns; SMOKING &; psychology; COMPARATIVE studies; HEALTH promotion; LABELS; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; RESEARCH; SELF-perception; SMOKING cessation; EVALUATION research; TOBACCO products; RANDOMIZED controlled trials
- Publication
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2017, Vol 19, Issue 10, p1238
- ISSN
1462-2203
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1093/ntr/ntw167