How optimists face skin cancer information: Risk assessment, attention, memory, and behavior

Shifting the perspective: how positive thinking can help diminish the negative effects of pain

OBJECTIVES

The field of pain psychology has taken significant steps forward during the last decades and the way we think about how to treat chronic pain has radically shifted from a biomedical perspective to a biopsychosocial model. This change in perspective has led to a surge of accumulating research showing the importance of psychological factors as determinants for debilitating pain. Vulnerability factors, such as pain-related fear, pain catastrophizing and escape/avoidant behaviours may increase the risk of disability. As a result, psychological treatment that has emerged from this line of thinking has mainly focused on preventing and decreasing the adverse impact of chronic pain by reducing these negative vulnerability factors. Recently, another shift in thinking has emerged due to the field of positive psychology, which aims to have a more complete and balanced scientific understanding of the human experience, by abandoning the exclusive focus on vulnerability factors towards including protective factors.

METHODS

The authors have summarised and reflected on the current state-of-the-art of pain psychology from a positive psychology perspective.

RESULTS

Optimism is an important factor that may in fact buffer and protect against pain chronicity and disability. Resulting treatment approaches from a positive psychology perspective are aimed at increasing protective factors, such as optimism, to increase resilience towards the negative effects of pain.

CONCLUSIONS

We propose that the way forward in pain research and treatment is the inclusion of both vulnerability and protective factors. Both have unique roles in modulating the experience of pain, a finding that had been neglected for too long. Positive thinking and pursuing valued goals can make one's life gratifying and fulfilling, despite experiencing chronic pain.

Optimism and precautionary measures during the COVID-19 outbreak in China

OBJECTIVE

The current study uses the unique setting created by the coronavirus crisis in China during the peak period of the pandemic to examine the behavioral factors affecting the decision of the Chinese people to adopt the precautionary actions recommended by the government.

METHODS

Using the social app WeChat, we conducted a cross sectional study of the Chinese people in mid-February 2020.

RESULTS

Our results show that higher levels of dispositional optimism and support for the government's actions for managing the epidemic were positively correlated with the compliance level. In addition, women and married participants were more likely to comply with the recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS

Optimism and support for government actions should be considered when promoting policies related to health behavior such as social distancing.

Optimism and the Experience of Pain: A Systematic Review

A growing body of literature provides evidence of the health-promoting effects of optimism, including its protective role in acute and chronic pain. Optimists are characterized by positive expectations concerning the future. These positive outcome expectancies lead to more and longer goal-directed efforts and the use of approach coping strategies. No systematic review on the effects of optimism on the experience of pain has so far been conducted. A search in the databases PubMed, Web of Science and PsycInfo, and the scanning of reference lists identified 69 eligible studies. These were categorized according to sample size, participants' age and sex, design, optimism-pain relation as primary vs. secondary study objective, and level of study/publication quality. Overall percentages of positive, zero, and negative associations between optimism and pain as well as relative frequencies of these associations in the different categories were analyzed. About 70% of the studies showed a positive, i.e., beneficial association between optimism and at least one pain outcome. A larger percentage of beneficial associations was found in studies with experimental designs, in studies with the optimism-pain relation as primary objective, in high-quality studies/publications, and in studies including participants with a higher average age. The review suggests that optimism is associated with less acute and chronic pain, especially since a higher percentage of beneficial associations was found with high study/publication quality and with the primary focus on this relationship. For the moderating role of age, different explanations are proposed. Further research on causal relationships and on optimism-fostering clinical interventions is needed.

A Cognitive-Affective Scale for Hurricane Risk Perception

The aim of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of hurricane risk perception. The utility of such a measure lies in the need to understand how people make decisions when facing an evacuation order. This study included participants located within a 15-mile buffer of the Gulf and southeast Atlantic U.S. coasts. The study was executed as a three-wave panel with mail surveys in 2010-2012 (T₀ baseline N = 629, 56%; T₁ retention N = 427, 75%; T₂ retention N = 350, 89%). An inventory based on the psychometric model was developed to discriminate cognitive and affective perceptions of hurricane risk, and included open-ended responses to solicit additional concepts in the T₀ survey. Analysis of the T₀ data modified the inventory and this revised item set was fielded at T₁ and then replicated at T₂ . The resulting scales were assessed for validity against existing measures for perception of hurricane risk, dispositional optimism, and locus of control. A measure of evacuation expectation was also examined as a dependent variable, which was significantly predicted by the new measures. The resulting scale was found to be reliable, stable, and largely valid against the comparison measures. Despite limitations involving sample size, bias, and the strength of some reliabilities, it was concluded that the measure has potential to inform approaches to hurricane preparedness efforts and advance planning for evacuation messages, and that the measure has good promise to generalize to other contexts in natural hazards as well as other domains of risk.

Personal fable: optimistic bias in cigarette smokers

Background:

Several empirical studies have shown the attitude of smokers to formulate judgments based on distortion in the risk perception. This alteration is produced by the activation of the optimistic bias characterized by a set of the unrealistic beliefs compared to the outcomes of their behavior. This bias exposes individuals to adopt lifestyles potentially dangerous for their health, underestimate the risks and overestimate the immediate positive effects.

Objectives:

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between optimistic bias and smoking habits. In particular, it was hypothesized that smokers develop optimistic illusions, able to facilitate the adoption and the maintenance over time of the unhealthy lifestyles, such as cigarette smoking, and the former smokers could acquire a belief system centered on own responsibility.

Patients and Methods:

The samples (n = 633, female = 345, male = 288) composed of smokers (35.7%), ex-smokers (32.2%) and nonsmokers (32.1%). Each participant filled out two questionnaires including The Fagerström test and the motivational questionnaire as well as a set of items measured on a Likert scales to evaluate health beliefs.

Results:

The results confirmed the presence of the optimistic bias in comparative judgments, and the attitude to overestimate the effectiveness of their preventive behaviors in the smokers.

Conclusions:

Cognitive bias in risk perception may influence health behaviors in negative way and reinforce cigarette smoking over the time. Future research should be conducted to identify the better strategies to overtake this cognitive bias to improve the quitting rate.

Third-Person Perception and Facebook

A survey of adolescents (N = 1,488) documented third-person perception (TPP) regarding Facebook use and cyber bullying. As Facebook establishes itself as the dominant social network, users expose themselves to a level of bullying not possible in the analog world. The study found that 84% of adolescents (middle school through college undergraduates) use Facebook, and that most users log on daily. While 30% of the sample reported being cyber bullied, only 12.5% quit using the site, and only 18% told a parent or school official. Despite heavy use and exposure, adolescents exhibit TPP, believing others are more likely to be negatively affected by Facebook use. The study contributes to the TPP literature, by linking the perceptual bias to self-protective behaviors. A range of self-protective behaviors from precautionary (deleting or blocking abusive users) to reactionary (quitting Facebook) were related to decreased degrees of TPP. TPP was also related to optimistic bias, experience, liking of and use of Facebook, and perceived subjective norms and age. Implications for prevention education are discussed.

A systematic review of visual image theory, assessment, and use in skin cancer and tanning research

Visual images increase attention, comprehension, and recall of health information and influence health behaviors. Health communication campaigns on skin cancer and tanning often use visual images, but little is known about how such images are selected or evaluated. A systematic review of peer-reviewed, published literature on skin cancer and tanning was conducted to determine (a) what visual communication theories were used, (b) how visual images were evaluated, and (c) how visual images were used in the research studies. Seven databases were searched (PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Social Sciences Full Text, ERIC, and ABI/INFORM) resulting in 5,330 citations. Of those, 47 met the inclusion criteria. Only one study specifically identified a visual communication theory guiding the research. No standard instruments for assessing visual images were reported. Most studies lacked, to varying degrees, comprehensive image description, image pretesting, full reporting of image source details, adequate explanation of image selection or development, and example images. The results highlight the need for greater theoretical and methodological attention to visual images in health communication research in the future. To this end, the authors propose a working definition of visual health communication.

Comparative and dispositional optimism as separate and interactive predictors

Comparative optimism and dispositional optimism are typically studied separately and little is known regarding their unique and combined predictive abilities. We examined how these two types of optimism predict cognitive and affective reactions following unpleasant dental health feedback (Studies 1 and 2) and neutral feedback (Study 2). In Study 1, dispositional optimism and a measure of dental health comparative optimism interacted to predict appraisals of dental health feedback. In Study 2, dispositional optimism and dental health comparative optimism interacted to predict appraisals of new dental health information following negative dental health feedback - but not following neutral feedback. Individuals scoring high in dispositional optimism and low in dental health comparative optimism were more interested in and receptive to the dental health feedback than those scoring high in both types of optimism. Finally, greater dental health comparative optimism was associated with less negative affect following the dental health feedback, whereas dispositional optimism was associated with greater positive affect under all conditions. The results indicate that comparative and dispositional optimism are unique as well as interactive predictors.

Optimistic bias, sexual assault, and fear

A survey of 431 adults documents optimistic bias regarding people's perceived risk of sexual victimization. The findings extend optimistic bias to crime victimization and contribute to the literature by considering a motivational factor, fear, as a predictor of optimistic bias. The study also yielded significant relationships between optimistic bias and demographic variables, including age, gender, and family structure.

Optimism

Optimism is an individual difference variable that reflects the extent to which people hold generalized favorable expectancies for their future. Higher levels of optimism have been related prospectively to better subjective well-being in times of adversity or difficulty (i.e., controlling for previous well-being). Consistent with such findings, optimism has been linked to higher levels of engagement coping and lower levels of avoidance, or disengagement, coping. There is evidence that optimism is associated with taking proactive steps to protect one's health, whereas pessimism is associated with health-damaging behaviors. Consistent with such findings, optimism is also related to indicators of better physical health. The energetic, task-focused approach that optimists take to goals also relates to benefits in the socioeconomic world. Some evidence suggests that optimism relates to more persistence in educational efforts and to higher later income. Optimists also appear to fare better than pessimists in relationships. Although there are instances in which optimism fails to convey an advantage, and instances in which it may convey a disadvantage, those instances are relatively rare. In sum, the behavioral patterns of optimists appear to provide models of living for others to learn from.

Mass media barriers to social marketing interventions: the example of sun protection in the UK

The role of the mass media in communicating health-related information to the wider population is the focus of this paper. Using the example of sun protection within the UK, we highlight some of the major challenges to raising awareness of steadily increasing melanoma rates and of effective sun protection strategies. The implications of potential barriers to official sun protection messages via conflicting messages in the media are discussed in terms of editorial on sun protection and in the way in which television programme content portrays the issues. Implications for public policy and future research conclude the paper.

Avian influenza risk perception and live poultry purchase in Guangzhou, China, 2006

Human H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infection is associated with intimate exposure to live poultry. Perceptions of risk can modify behaviors, influencing actual exposure. However, greater hazard is not necessarily followed by perception of greater risk and more precautionary behavior because self-serving cognitive biases modulate precautionary and hazardous behaviors. We examined risk perception associated with avian influenza. A total of 1,550 face-to-face within-household interviews and 1,760 telephone interviews were derived to study avian influenza risk perception and live poultry use in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, respectively. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests assessed bivariate associations and risk distributions, respectively, and fully adjusted multivariate logistic models determined independent risk associations. Relative to Hong Kong, perceived "generalized" risk from buying live poultry (GZ, 58%, 95% confidence interval 55-60% vs. HK, 41%, 39-43%; chi(2)= 86.95, df = 1, p < 0.001) and perceived self/family risk from buying (z =-2.092, p = 0.036) were higher in Guangzhou. Higher perceived "generalized" risk was associated with not buying live poultry (OR = 0.65, 0.49-0.85), consistent with the pattern seen in Hong Kong, while perceived higher self/family risk was associated with buying ("likely/very likely/certain" OR = 1.74, 1.18-2.59); no such association was seen in Hong Kong. Multivariate adjustment indicated older age was associated with buying live poultry in Guangzhou (OR = 2.91, 1.36-6.25). Guangzhou respondents perceived greater risk relative to Hong Kong. Buying live poultry was associated with perceptions of less "generalized" risk but more self/family risk. Higher generalized risk was associated with fewer live poultry purchases, suggesting generalized risk may be a useful indicator of precautionary HPAI risk behavior.