Frequency of Risk‐Related News Media Messages in 2016 Coverage of Zika Virus

Sell, Tara Kirk; Watson, Crystal; Meyer, Diane; Kronk, Marissa; Ravi, Sanjana; Pechta, Laura E.; Lubell, Keri; Rose, Dale A.

doi:10.1111/risa.12961

Cited by 36 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Samuel et al (2018) reported that despite extensive coverage of Zika by the media, people in New York City had an overall poor understanding of Zika virus symptoms, potential complications, modes of transmission, and guidelines for prevention, and that further intervention is needed to properly educate the public. Likewise, another study noted that 40% of news articles on Zika mentioned negative potential outcomes of Zika infection without mentioning ways to prevent infections [ 43 ]. These studies suggest that, in the least, some media coverage could be improved to better educate the public about Zika prevention.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mosquito control practices and perceptions: An analysis of economic stakeholders during the Zika epidemic in Belize, Central America

et al. 2018

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The tourist-based economy of Belize, a tropical hub for eco-tourism, is at high risk to be disproportionately impacted by established and emerging mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika. An online survey was used to probe economic stakeholders working in the Belize tourism industry about their mosquito control practices and perceptions. Responses demonstrated that the respondents have good working knowledge of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illnesses. Most businesses surveyed engage in some means of mosquito control, either through larval source reduction or use of insecticides on the premises. Larvicide use was significantly correlated with a general willingness to use insecticides, as well as belief that treatment of water will reduce mosquito densities and disease transmission. A majority of the respondents agreed that they would be interested in buying a new larvicide to be used on the business premises if it were shown to be safe and effective. The safety of mosquito control products for humans, animals, plants, and the environment in general, followed by product effectiveness, are the most critical determinants of mosquito control purchasing decisions. A majority of respondents agreed that control of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illnesses is central to the success of their tourist-based industry. Respondents expressed significant concern that the Zika epidemic was over-sensationalized by the media, and that this negatively impacted their livelihoods. The respondents, many of whom are associated with eco/sustainable businesses, also voiced concerns that chemical pesticides could have a negative impact on human health and the environment and expressed a desire for balance between effective mosquito control and preservation of the rich biodiversity of Belize. This study provided a framework for further engagement activities in Belize and other Caribbean nations, uncovered both concerns and support for emerging mosquito control technologies, and revealed opportunities for further debate and educational outreach efforts.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mosquito control practices and perceptions: An analysis of economic stakeholders during the Zika epidemic in Belize, Central America

et al. 2018

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“…Yet threat also had no effect on sheltering‐in‐place intentions for chemical releases (Heath, Lee, Palenchar, & Lemon, ), without an obvious temporal association. Positive effects of threat might reflect relative media attention to specific transmission routes, such as mosquitoes (74% of 2016 Zika news stories; Sell et al., ), travel (43% and 30%, depending upon the measure), and sex (31%). Yet threat was positively associated with mosquito control and safe sex intentions, but not travel, for the full sample (Figs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few mainland Americans were likely directly exposed to CDC's Zika advice during this period, hence the prospective‐advice emphasis. They might have been exposed to media‐relayed advice by this point in 2017, but 40% of 2016 U.S. news stories mentioned Zika's negative consequences without mentioning protective actions (Sell et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Americans’ Views of Voluntary Protective Actions Against Zika Infection: Conceptual and Measurement Issues

Johnson¹

2019

Risk Analysis

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Understanding factors affecting decisions by people to protect themselves, or not, is critical to designing supportive communications. Here, threat, protective-action, and stakeholder perceptions were evaluated for effects on mainland Americans' behavioral intentions regarding Zika in April 2017, as postulated by the Protective Action Decision Model. Although all three perception types (including a novel resource sufficiency measure) affected intentions, these relationships varied widely depending upon the method used to measure adoption of actions (e.g., total count of all behaviors adopted vs. behavior-specific analyses), the behaviors involved, and whether analysis focused on the full sample or only on people who had a reasonable opportunity to enact the behavior or who believed it relevant to their lives. There was a general contrast between mosquito control actions (removal of mosquito breeding areas and pesticide spraying) and travel-related behaviors (avoiding travel to areas of local transmission of the virus, protecting oneself from mosquito bites after potential exposure, and practicing safe sex after potential exposure). Reported action or inaction during the 2016 mosquito season, and stages of behavior change, were both elicited in January-February 2017; both drove intentions in April 2017 for the upcoming season, although direct and indirect effects varied widely. Collectively these findings present theoretical, measurement, and practical implications for understanding, tracking, and promoting voluntary protective actions against hazards. conceptual issues involving a decision model originally developed for earthquakes and hurricanes, and whether its predictors differ across previous stages of behavioral change, and (2) measurement issues involving behavior or behavioral intentions, behavioral facilitation or impedance, and self-reported behavior relevance. BACKGROUND Concepts in Protective Behavior and Study HypothesesThe Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) was developed for probing the role of information in 2694

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“…In the case of Zika, this is an especially interesting phenomenon in the context of the media environment before and after local transmission. Prior to local transmission (Samples 1), message content highlighting factual information about Zika was more frequent compared to after local transmission (Samples 2) (Sell et al., ). Despite this, it appears local transmission was a pivotal event that strengthened the relationship between psychological constructs and knowledge of Zika.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Physical proximity to a health threat like Zika is associated with increased perceived risk and concern (Johnson, ) and the content and frequency of Zika coverage in the United States shifted after local transmission. Specifically, there was a relatively greater emphasis on messages to heighten perceived risk and highlighting factual information about Zika prior to local transmission, and a relatively greater emphasis on governmental efforts to control Zika and the controversies surrounding Zika prevention and response efforts after local transmission (Sell et al., ). As a result of this shift in psychological and media responses following local Zika transmission, it would be important to see whether the associations with Zika knowledge and conspiracy beliefs remain constant or change before and after local transmission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross‐Sectional Psychological and Demographic Associations of Zika Knowledge and Conspiracy Beliefs Before and After Local Zika Transmission

et al. 2019

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Perceptions of infectious diseases are important predictors of whether people engage in disease‐specific preventive behaviors. Having accurate beliefs about a given infectious disease has been found to be a necessary condition for engaging in appropriate preventive behaviors during an infectious disease outbreak, while endorsing conspiracy beliefs can inhibit preventive behaviors. Despite their seemingly opposing natures, knowledge and conspiracy beliefs may share some of the same psychological motivations, including a relationship with perceived risk and self‐efficacy (i.e., control). The 2015–2016 Zika epidemic provided an opportunity to explore this. The current research provides some exploratory tests of this topic derived from two studies with similar measures, but different primary outcomes: one study that included knowledge of Zika as a key outcome and one that included conspiracy beliefs about Zika as a key outcome. Both studies involved cross‐sectional data collections that occurred during the same two periods of the Zika outbreak: one data collection prior to the first cases of local Zika transmission in the United States (March–May 2016) and one just after the first cases of local transmission (July–August). Using ordinal logistic and linear regression analyses of data from two time points in both studies, the authors show an increase in relationship strength between greater perceived risk and self‐efficacy with both increased knowledge and increased conspiracy beliefs after local Zika transmission in the United States. Although these results highlight that similar psychological motivations may lead to Zika knowledge and conspiracy beliefs, there was a divergence in demographic association.

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Frequency of Risk‐Related News Media Messages in 2016 Coverage of Zika Virus

Cited by 36 publications

References 25 publications

Mosquito control practices and perceptions: An analysis of economic stakeholders during the Zika epidemic in Belize, Central America

Mosquito control practices and perceptions: An analysis of economic stakeholders during the Zika epidemic in Belize, Central America

Americans’ Views of Voluntary Protective Actions Against Zika Infection: Conceptual and Measurement Issues

Cross‐Sectional Psychological and Demographic Associations of Zika Knowledge and Conspiracy Beliefs Before and After Local Zika Transmission

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