Amber S. Emanuel

Sheltering the Self From the Storm: Self-Construal Abstractness and the Stability of Self-Esteem:

Self-construal abstractness (SCA) refers to the degree to which people construe important bases of self-esteem in a broad, flexible, and abstract rather than a concrete and specific manner. This article hypothesized that SCA would be a unique predictor of self-esteem stability, capturing the degree to which people’s most important bases of self-worth are resistant to disconfirmation. Two studies using a daily diary methodology examined relationships between SCA, daily self-esteem, and daily emotions and/or events. In Study 1, individual differences in SCA emerged as the most consistent and unique predictor of self-esteem stability. Furthermore, SCA contributed to self-esteem stability by buffering the influence of daily negative emotions on self-esteem. Study 2 manipulated SCA via a daily self-construal task and found an abstract versus concrete self-focus to buffer the influence of daily negative events on self-esteem. Implications of these findings for the study of the self and well-being are discussed.

Associations of spontaneous self-affirmation with health care experiences and health information seeking in a national survey of US adults

Objective: Self-affirming – such as by reflecting on one’s strengths and values – reduces defensiveness to threatening information, reduces negative effects of stereotype threat and promotes prosociality. These outcomes may promote physical health, highlighting a need to examine the role of self-affirmation in medical and health contexts. Design: Data were collected as part of the nationally representative, cross-sectional, 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey. Items were completed by 2731 respondents. Main Outcome Measures: Respondents answered questions about spontaneous self-affirmation tendencies, perceptions of providers and health care, involvement in medical appointments, health information seeking and engagement in medical research. Results: Spontaneous self-affirmation was associated with more positive perceptions of communication with one’s provider, better perceived quality of care, greater likelihood of asking questions in a medical appointment, greater information seeking for oneself and multiple indices of surrogate information seeking (i.e. seeking information for others). Four of eight significant associations remained significant when controlling for optimism. The associations of self-affirmation with aspects of the patient–provider relationship were not modified by factors likely to be associated with stereotype threat (e.g. race or BMI). Conclusion: Spontaneous self-affirmation was related to positive outcomes in health contexts. Experimental research is needed to further explore the causal nature of these associations.

Message Framing for Health: Moderation by Perceived Susceptibility and Motivational Orientation in a Diverse Sample of Americans

OBJECTIVE The present study examined how gain- and loss-framed informational videos about oral health influence self-reported flossing behavior over a 6-month period, as well as the roles of perceived susceptibility to oral health problems and approach/avoidance motivational orientation in moderating these effects. METHOD An age and ethnically diverse sample of 855 American adults were randomized to receive no health message, or either a gain-framed or loss-framed video presented on the Internet. Self-reported flossing was assessed longitudinally at 2 and 6 months. RESULTS Among the entire sample, susceptibility interacted with frame to predict flossing. Participants who watched a video where the frame (gain/loss) matched perceived susceptibility (low/high) had significantly greater likelihood of flossing at recommended levels at the 6-month follow-up, compared with those who viewed a mismatched video or no video at all. However, young adults (18-24) showed stronger moderation by motivational orientation than by perceived susceptibility, in line with previous work largely conducted with young adult samples. CONCLUSION Brief informational interventions can influence long-term health behavior, particularly when the gain- or loss-frame of the information matches the recipients beliefs about their health outcome risks.

Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being: Evidence from a US national adult survey sample

Emerging evidence suggests that individuals spontaneously self-affirm, by reflecting on values and strengths, in response to daily threats. We examined the prevalence and demographic and well-being correlates of spontaneous self-affirmation in the general population. Participants (n = 3185) completed the cross-sectional, nationally representative 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 4, Cycle 3), and answered questions about spontaneous self-affirmation, demographic factors, well-being, and affect. The majority of the population reported spontaneously self-affirming. Black and Hispanic respondents reported engaging in more spontaneous self-affirmation. Engaging in spontaneous self-affirmation was related to greater happiness, hopefulness, optimism, subjective health, and personal health efficacy, and less anger and sadness.

Predicting Scheduling and Attending for an Oral Cancer Examination

BackgroundOral and pharyngeal cancer is highly treatable if diagnosed early, yet late diagnosis is commonplace apparently because of delays in undergoing an oral cancer examination.PurposeWe explored predictors of scheduling and attending an oral cancer examination among a sample of Black and White men who were at high risk for oral cancer because they smoked.MethodsDuring an in-person interview, participants (N = 315) from rural Florida learned about oral and pharyngeal cancer, completed survey measures, and were offered a free examination in the next week. Later, participants received a follow-up phone call to explore why they did or did not attend their examination.ResultsConsistent with the notion that scheduling and attending an oral cancer exam represent distinct decisions, we found that the two outcomes had different predictors. Defensive avoidance and exam efficacy predicted scheduling an examination; exam efficacy and having coping resources, time, and transportation predicted attending the examination. Open-ended responses revealed that the dominant reasons participants offered for missing a scheduled examination were conflicting obligations, forgetting, and confusion or misunderstanding about the examination.ConclusionsThe results suggest interventions to increase scheduling and attending an oral cancer examination.

The reliability of psychological instruments in community samples: A cautionary note.

Although researchers norm and validate measures of psychological constructs largely on educated samples, they often use these instruments more broadly, assuming generalizability. We examined whether the assumption of generalizability is warranted. We administered three commonly used psychological measures—the Behavioral Activation/Behavioral Inhibition Scale, the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire, and the Need for Cognition Scale—to a community sample (N = 332) with limited education. For the three instruments, five of seven scales/subscales had unsatisfactory reliabilities. Internal consistency was lowest among participants with less education. The results suggest that instruments normed on educated samples may not generalize to uneducated samples.

Education differences in cancer fatalism: The role of information-seeking experiences

Cancer fatalism is the belief that cancer is uncontrollable and lethal. Individuals with less education are more likely to hold fatalistic beliefs about cancer, but the mechanism accounting for the relationship is unknown. We tested whether negative health information seeking experiences explain this relationship. Structural equation modeling was used to test this relationship across three datasets from the Health Information National Trends Survey. Across all datasets, the model showed good fit: Cycle 1 (coefficient of determination = .11, comparative fit index = .96, root mean square error of approximation = .047), Cycle 2 (coefficient of determination = .06, comparative fit index = .96, root mean square error of approximation = .046), and Cycle 3 (coefficient of determination = .08, comparative fit index = .95, root mean square error of approximation = .052). The link between lower education level and higher cancer fatalism was partially mediated by negative health information seeking experiences.

Determinants of First-Time Cancer Examinations in a Rural Community: A Mechanism for Behavior Change

OBJECTIVES After conducting a media campaign focusing on the importance of oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC) examinations, we assessed mechanisms of behavior change among individuals receiving an OPC examination for the first time. METHODS We used data from 2 waves of telephone surveys of individuals residing in 36 rural census tracts in northern Florida (n = 806). The second survey occurred after our media intervention. We developed media messages and modes of message delivery with community members via focus groups and intercept interviews. We performed a mediation analysis to examine behavior change mechanisms. RESULTS Greater exposure to media messages corresponded with heightened concern about OPC. Heightened concern, in turn, predicted receipt of a first-time OPC examination, but only among men. CONCLUSIONS We extended earlier studies by measuring an outcome behavior (receipt of an OPC examination) and demonstrating that the putative mechanism of action (concern about the disease) explained the link between a media intervention and engaging in the target behavior. Improving the quality of media campaigns by engaging community stakeholders in selecting messages and delivery methods is an effective strategy in building public health interventions aimed at changing behaviors.

Factors that Influence Intake to One Municipal Animal Control Facility in Florida: A Qualitative Study

Simple Summary Animal shelters try to save homeless dogs and cats by returning lost pets to missing owners, adopting animals to new homes, and by reducing intake. We mapped the annual intake of one county animal shelter to discover where the homeless animals came from and selected one area of high-intake for stray adult dogs to study. We performed field interviews and reviewed available census and child-maltreatment data to create a theory about why so many stray dogs came from this study area. The study-area residents experience multiple socioeconomic challenges secondary to poverty including: interpersonal violence; housing instability; and lack of access to reliable transportation and communication services. Such factors lead residents to view domestic dogs not only as pets, but also as commodities that can add income to households, and often as burdens that results in pet abandonment. The community-specific data collected in this study can drive creation of strategic solutions for preventing pet abandonment and serve to reduce intake of stray dogs to the local animal shelter. Abstract This qualitative study identified a study area by visualizing one year of animal intake from a municipal animal shelter on geographic information systems (GIS) maps to select an area of high stray-dog intake to investigate. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with residents of the selected study area to elucidate why there were high numbers of stray dogs coming from this location. Using grounded theory, three themes emerged from the interviews: concerns, attitudes, and disparities. The residents expressed concerns about animal welfare, personal safety, money, and health. They held various attitudes toward domestic animals in the community, including viewing them as pets, pests, or useful commodities (products). Residents expressed acceptance as well as some anger and fear about the situation in their community. Interviewees revealed they faced multiple socioeconomic disparities related to poverty. Pet abandonment can result when pet owners must prioritize human needs over animal needs, leading to increased shelter intake of stray dogs. Community-specific strategies for reducing local animal shelter intake should address the issue of pet abandonment by simultaneously targeting veterinary needs of animals, socioeconomic needs of residents, and respecting attitude differences between residents and shelter professionals.