Nichole Egbert

Online Impression Management: Personality Traits and Concerns for Secondary Goals as Predictors of Self-Presentation Tactics on Facebook

This study investigates the utility of personality traits and secondary goals as predictors of self-presentation tactics employed by Facebook users. A structural equation model of self-presentation tactics on Facebook was proposed and tested. Although fit of the initial model was good, the final model, eliminating three paths and adding two others, yielded a significantly better fitting model. Findings show that personality traits predicted concern for secondary goals (N = 477) and that secondary goals predicted the use of various self-presentation tactics used on Facebook. Results indicated that these personality traits and secondary goals are both theoretically and empirically sound components for the conceptualization of online impression management.

A Review and Application of Social Scientific Measures of Religiosity and Spirituality: Assessing a Missing Component in Health Communication Research

Social and behavioral scientists in fields such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, nursing, and medicine have been investigating the relation between religious or spiritual variables and health outcomes for several decades. This article reviews a sample of the major empirical instruments used in this research, including extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity, spiritual well-being, and religious coping. The review encompasses suggestions for application of these scales to health communication theory and research associated with identity, self-efficacy, social support, and media use. Cautionary advice regarding ethical issues together with guidelines for use is advanced.

Returning to Work After the Onset of Illness Experiences of Right Hemisphere Stroke Survivors

Experiences of right hemisphere stroke survivors in their attempts to return to work after the onset of stroke were explored through an interdisciplinary qualitative investigation. Key findings indicate that (a) participants experienced an array of functional limitations that precipitated employment changes; (b) employment changes had a substantial psychosocial impact on both the stroke survivor and the primary caregiver; and (c) successful integration into employment was associated with both internal resources (e.g., patience, determination, sense of humor) and external resources (e.g., emotional support and encouragement from caregivers, family, and friends; emotional and instrumental support from healthcare professionals; employer willingness to provide reasonable accommodations). The findings support the use of an ecological approach to facilitate successful return to work for this population.

Self-Efficacy and Rural Women's Performance of Breast and Cervical Cancer Detection Practices

Self-efficacy has become an important variable in multiple areas of human performance, including health behavior modification (Bandura, 1997). This study explores variables that lead to womens perceived self-efficacy in performing regular detection practices for breast and cervical cancer. A sample of southeastern U.S. farm women ( N = 206) completed surveys that assessed their perceived and actual knowledge of womens cancer detection practices, as well as their perceived social norms and perceived barriers related to obtaining these tests. Regression analyses of these data revealed that perceived peer norms and the barriers of time and embarrassment were significant predictors of womens confidence in their ability to follow through with cancer detection practices. Perceived knowledge and perceived family norms significantly predicted womens perceptions of difficulty associated with cancer detection practices as well as womens confidence in their skills to perform breast self-examination (BSE). Time was also a significant barrier to confidence in performing BSE. Implications for health communication campaigns are discussed.

Reality Bites: An Investigation of the Genre of Reality Television and Its Relationship to Viewers’ Body Image

Utilizing a unique methodological approach, this study investigated subtypes of reality television (RTV) to study the influence of exposure to RTV on body image (body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness) as compared a more traditional weekly report of RTV viewing. Young adults (N = 472) completed online surveys measuring their exposure to RTV and perceptions of their own body image. Four types of RTV were uncovered. Regression analyses using these 4 factors demonstrated that exposure to competition-based RTV shows (e.g., Dancing with the Stars) predicted increased body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. On the other hand, the weekly self-report of RTV viewing did not reveal any relationships between weekly exposure to RTV and body image. These findings underline the need for cultivation-based media studies that include program-based measures of genre-specific media exposure, especially when seeking to capture media effects related to RTV.

Empathy and Social Support for the Terminally Ill: Implications for Recruiting and Retaining Hospice and Hospital Volunteers

Hospice care is a growing alternative for terminally ill patients, and hospice volunteers provide needed services to patients and their families. Few communication studies have investigated the contributions that hospice volunteers make to the overall experience and philosophy of the hospice system, although such studies have the potential to guide volunteer recruitment, selection, and training. Hospice (n = 48) and hospital volunteers (n = 69) completed surveys measuring trait empathy, and after reading a hypothetical situation involving a terminally ill patient, reported how likely and easy it would he for them to provide a) instrumental support and b) emotional support. The results suggest that hospice volunteers may he qualitatively different from their counterparts who volunteered for more conventional health care organizations, both in their individual characteristics, as well as in their propensity for the type of social support they offer. The findings afford the opportunity to derive some potential guidelines for recruiting and retaining volunteers in hospice and hospital volunteer programs.

Threat, efficacy, and uncertainty in the first 5 months of national print and electronic news coverage of the H1N1 virus.

The authors conducted a content analysis, investigating the first 5 months of national print and electronic news coverage of the H1N1 virus. They collected all stories about H1N1 appearing in 6 national news outlets between April and September 2009. Of these stories meeting the analysis criteria, the authors randomly selected 200 for inclusion. Using models of fear appeal message processing, this study investigated the nature and prevalence of threat and efficacy messages in news coverage of the virus. Such models have traditionally been applied to strategic health message contexts (e.g., campaigns) rather than to health news coverage. Results suggest that most stories made reference to the threat of the H1N1 virus, sometimes overemphasizing and sensationalizing virus-related death. With regard to efficacy, approximately half mentioned actions individuals or organizations/communities could take to protect themselves from the virus, but almost none provided evidence that such methods are effective, and some explicitly questioned their effectiveness. In addition, a number of stories referenced uncertainty about the threat of the virus (38%) and/or solutions to the potential threat (18%). The authors discuss the implications from the perspective of fear appeal message processing models.

Support provider mood and familiar versus unfamiliar events: An investigation of social support quality

Much of what communication scholars know about the production of effective comforting messages comes from the constructivist framework of Applegate (1980), Burleson (1985), and others. This paper extends this framework by addressing two questions put forth by scholars in this area, namely, what is the influence of cognition‐inhibiting situational variables such as mood on the generation of sophisticated, person‐centered comforting messages, and is this influence greater in situations requiring increased cognitive processing (Burleson & Planalp, 2000). In this study, support providers’ moods were manipulated before they were presented with either a familiar or an unfamiliar hypothetical support scenario. As hypothesized, results showed that supportive messages provided in response to a familiar situation were significantly more sophisticated than messages provided in response to an unfamiliar situation. Participants exposed to the happy mood induction encoded significantly more sophisticated comforting messages than did participants exposed to the sad mood induction. No effect was found regarding a two‐way interaction between the support providers mood and the recipients situation. Results are discussed within the constructivist framework for social support research, and directions for future investigations of social support are suggested.

How Older Adults and Their Families Perceive Family Talk about Aging-Related EOL Issues: A Dialectical Analysis

For older adults, approaching end-of-life (EOL) brings unique transitions related to family relationships. Unfortunately, most families greatly underestimate the need to discuss these difficult issues. For example, parents approaching EOL issues often struggle with receiving assistance from others, avoiding family conflict, and maintaining their sense of personhood. In addition, discussions of EOL issues force family members to face their parents’ mortality, which can be particularly difficult for adult children to process emotionally. This study explored aging issues identified by aging parents and their families as they traverse these impending EOL changes. Ten focus groups of seniors (n = 65) were conducted. Focus groups were organized according to race (African-American/European-American), gender, and whether the older adult was living independently or in an assisted care facility. When asked open-ended questions about discussing aging and EOL issues with family members, participants revealed tensions that led us to consider Relational Dialectics Theory as a framework for analysis. The predominant tension highlighted in this report was certainty versus uncertainty, with the two sub-themes of sustained life versus sustained personhood and confronting versus avoiding EOL issues. For these data, there were more similarities than differences as a result of gender, race, or living situation than one might expect, although culture and financial status were found to be influential in the avoidance of EOL discussions. The results of this study help to provide additional insight into relational dialectics related to aging, EOL, and the importance of communication in facilitating family coping.

10 Integrating Intergenerational Family Caregiving Challenges Across Discipline and Culture Identity, Attribution, and Relationship

In the past few decades, worldwide increases in chronic illness and life expectancies have drastically amplified the burden experienced by family caregivers. As a result of their many responsibilities, caregivers are prone to greater physical, psychological, and relational strain as compared to their peers. The goal of this chapter is to spur interdisciplinary research to aid intergenerational family caregivers by integrating research from different disciplines and cultures. Three central communication challenges faced by caregivers (identity, attribution, and relationship) serve as reference points for this discussion.