Objective: To investigate factors associated with the stigmatization of people of Asian descent during COVID-19 in the United States and factors that can mitigate or prevent stigmatization. Design: A national sample survey of adults (N = 842) was conducted online between May 11 and May 19, 2020. Outcome variables were two dimensions of stigmatization, responsibility and persons as risk. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results: Racial prejudice, maladaptive coping, and biased media use each explained stigmatization. Racial prejudice, comprising stereotypical beliefs and emotion toward Asian Americans, was a stronger predictor of stigmatization than maladaptive coping or biased media use. Fear concerning the ongoing COVID-19 situation and the use of social media and partisan cable TV also predicted stigmatization. Low self-efficacy in dealing with COVID-19, when associated with high estimated harm of COVID-19, increased stigmatization. High perceived institutional efficacy in the handling of COVID-19 increased stigmatization when linked to high estimated harm of COVID-19. On the other hand, high perceived collective efficacy in coping with COVID-19 was associated with low stigmatization. More indirect contacts with Asians via the media predicted less stigmatization. Conclusions: Efforts to reduce stigmatization should address racial stereotypes and emotions, maladaptive coping, and biased media use by providing education and resources to the public. Fostering collective efficacy and media-based contacts with Asian Americans can facilitate these efforts.

Concerns over the harmful effects of social media have directed public attention to media literacy as a potential remedy. Current conceptions of media literacy are frequently based on mass media, focusing on the analysis of common content and evaluation of the content using common values. This article initiates a new conceptual framework of social media literacy (SoMeLit). Moving away from the mass media-based assumptions of extant approaches, SoMeLit centers on the user’s self in social media that is in dynamic causation with their choices of messages and networks. The foci of analysis in SoMeLit, therefore, are one’s selections and values that influence and are influenced by the construction of one’s reality on social media; and the evolving characteristics of social media platforms that set the boundaries of one’s social media reality construction. Implications of the new components and dimensions of SoMeLit for future research, education, and action are discussed.

Background Exposure to risk behavior on social media is associated with risk behavior tendencies among adolescents, but research on the mechanisms underlying the effects of social media exposure is sparse. Objective This study aimed to investigate the motivations of social media use and the mediating and moderating mechanisms of their effects on attitude toward electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among adolescents. Methods Using data from a national sample survey of adolescents (age=14-17 years, N=594), we developed and validated a social media use motivation scale. We examined the roles of motivations in the effect of social media use on risk exposure and risk attitude. Results Motivations for social media use included agency, self-expression, realism, social learning, social comparison, and filter. These motivations were associated differentially with the frequency of use of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Frequency of social media use was positively associated with exposure to e-cigarette messages across the four platforms ( P s<.001). Exposure to e-cigarette messages on Instagram ( P =.005) and Snapchat ( P =.03) was positively associated with attitude toward e-cigarette use. Perceived social media realism moderated the effects of e-cigarette message exposure such that when realism was high, the exposure effect was amplified, but when realism was low, the effect was mitigated ( P <.001). A three-way interaction effect ( P =.02) among exposure, social learning motivation, and social norm on attitude toward e-cigarette use was found. When perceived social norm was high, the moderating effect of social learning motivation on e-cigarette use attitude was amplified, but when social norm was low, the social learning motivation effect was attenuated. Conclusions Because perceived social media realism moderates the effect of exposure to e-cigarette messages on attitude toward e-cigarette use, future intervention efforts should address the realism perceptions. The three-way interaction among exposure, social learning motivation, and social norm indicates the importance of addressing both the online and offline social environments of adolescents. The social media use motivation scale, reflecting perceived affordances, is broadly applicable. Understanding social media use motivations is important, as they indirectly influence attitude toward e-cigarette use via frequency of social media use and/or frequency of exposure to e-cigarette messages on social media.

Indoor tanning leads to melanoma, the fifth most common cancer in the USA. The highest rate of indoor tanning is among young women whose exposure to tanned images in the media is linked to protanning attitudes. This study evaluated the efficacy of a media literacy intervention for reducing young women's indoor tanning. Intervention participants analyzed the content and functions of the media influencing protanning attitudes and produced counter-messages to help themselves and peers resist harmful media effects. The message production was of two types: digital argument production or digital story production. The control group received assessments only. This three-group randomized design involved 26 sorority chapters and 247 members in five Midwestern states where indoor tanning is prevalent. At 2- and 6-month follow-up assessments, those in the two intervention conditions were less likely to be indoor tanners (p = .033) and reported lower indoor tanning intentions (p = .002) compared to those in the control condition. No difference between the two intervention groups was found for behavior. Although the argument group exhibited slightly weaker indoor tanning intentions than the story group, the difference was not significant. The results provide the first evidence of the efficacy of a media literacy intervention for indoor tanning reduction. Implications for participative engagement interventions are discussed.

Purpose: To test for racial/ethnic differences in perceived argument strength in favor of structural interventions to curb childhood obesity among lower-income parents of young children. Design: Cross-sectional, self-report. Setting: Online research panel, national sample of 1485 US adults in Fall 2019. Participants: Parents of children (age 0-5 years) with an annual income <$40,000, stratified by White, Black and/or Latinx race/ethnicity. Measures: SSB consumption, policy support, and strength of arguments in favor of marketing restrictions and a penny-per-ounce tax. Analysis: Descriptive statistics, multivariable OLS models. Results: Race/ethnicity was not a significant predictor of the perceived strength of a composite of marketing arguments (pBlack = 0.07; pLatinx = 0.10), however it was a significant predictor of the perceived strength of tax arguments (pBlack = 0.01; pLatinx = 0.01). Perceptions of strength of 12 of 35 discrete SSB tax arguments differed by race/ethnicity (p < .05). Arguments regarding industry targeting of Black children (marketing: pBlack < .001; pLatinx = .001; tax: pBlack < .001; pLatinx = .001), were particularly demonstrative of this difference. In contrast, arguments that these policies would provide support for parents (marketing: pBlack = 0.20; pLatinx = 0.84) and communities (tax: pBlack = 0.24; pLatinx = 0.58) were seen as strong arguments across groups. Conclusions: Black and Hispanic/Latinx parents may be more prepared to move toward SSB policy support than white parents. Emphasizing community benefits of policy may be effective in moving constituents toward policy support across groups.