Trial reportHealth communication2019
Just a Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Messages Go Down: Using Stories and Vicarious Self-Affirmation to Reduce e-Cigarette Use.
Trial report in Health communication, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interventions to prevent or cease electronic cigarette use in children and adolescents.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Changing beliefs or changing behavior? Understanding the belief-to-behavior process and intervening to curb the impact of misinformation.Journal of consumer psychology : the official journal of the Society for Consumer Psychology · 2026Article
- Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents' Preferences for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Social Marketing Campaigns: Qualitative Preimplementation Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Active role of participants in neuroempowerment training and supportive neurotechnologies: a theoretical-methodological perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among African Americans: the effects of narratives, character's self-persuasion, and trust in science.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2023Article
- A Content Analysis of U.S. Adults' Open-Ended Responses to E-Cigarette Risk Messages.Health communication · 2022Article
- Research on Youth and Young Adult Tobacco Use, 2013-2018, From the Food and Drug Administration-National Institutes of Health Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2020Review
- Communication Regulatory Science: Mapping a New Field.Health communication · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
While prior research has demonstrated the benefits of self-affirming individuals prior to exposing them to potentially threatening health messages, the current study assesses the feasibility of inducing self-affirmation vicariously through the success of a character in a narrative. In Study 1, college-age participants who regularly use e-cigarettes (N = 225) were randomly assigned to read one of two versions of a story depicting a college student of their own gender. The versions were identical except in the vicarious self-affirmation (VSA) condition, the main character achieves success (i.e., honored with a prestigious award) before being confronted by a friend about the dangers associated with their e-cigarette use; whereas in the vicarious control condition, the achievement is mentioned after the risk information. Results of the posttest and 10-day follow-up demonstrated that VSA reduced messages derogation, while increasing self-appraisal and perceived risk. The effect of VSA on e-cigarette outcomes was moderated by frequency of use, with heavier users benefiting the most. Study 2 (N = 152) confirmed that traditional value affirmation works with our stimuli on a comparable population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.