Communication of Genetic and Environmental Risks in Colorectal Cancer Prevention

描述(申请人提供)：这项职业奖励计划的总体目标是使王博士能够成为一名独立的研究员，致力于设计干预措施，传达关于遗传和环境风险的信息，重点是结直肠癌。随着基因技术的进步继续揭示它们对结直肠癌风险的贡献，有效地传播遗传和环境风险因素信息变得越来越重要。到目前为止，人们对如何最好地交流风险因素信息以增加行为动机知之甚少，从而限制了这些新技术的应用，从而造福于公众健康。关于癌症风险因素的沟通的影响，在一定程度上取决于对所传达的疾病反馈的先前信念和认知表征。特别是，因果归因--人们对结直肠癌病因的信念--是一个重要的、但尚未得到充分研究的决定因素，它决定了个人是否以及在多大程度上采取了行为行动，以降低疾病发生的可能性。在普通人群中更好地了解结直肠癌的因果归因是至关重要的，这样才能系统和全面地描绘人们如何看待癌症的原因，并确定那些促进或破坏筛查坚持和生活方式改变的归因。采用调查和实验研究方法相结合的方法，正在提出两项研究，这两项研究按照逻辑顺序相互建立，以1)描述结直肠癌因果归因的性质及其与筛查和生活方式行为的关联，以及2)开始在实验中测试遗传和以环境为重点的风险沟通信息对未受影响个人的因果归因和健康行为模式的影响。建议的培训计划通过提供必要的高级指导和传播学、心理测量学方法、干预策略和高级统计方面的课程来支持这项研究。这将使PI能够有效地进行研究，并为她在第5年提交R01报告做好准备，以获得的结果为基础，为结直肠癌筛查和预防创建更精细的信息。这一培训和研究的协同计划将对了解个人如何应对结直肠癌以及其他癌症站点的风险沟通信息至关重要。也许最重要的是，从这些研究中获得的知识对于制定和评估以理论为导向的量身定做的干预措施至关重要，这些干预措施的重点是向普通民众传达遗传和/或环境风险信息，以努力促进行为改变，并最终造福公众健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this career award proposal is to enable Dr. Wang to become an independent investigator n the design of interventions to communicate messages about genetic and environmental risk, with a focus on colorectal cancer. The effective communication of genetic and environmental risk factor information has grown increasingly important as advances in genetic technology continue to shed new light on their contributions to colorectal cancer risk. To date, little is known about how best to communicate risk factor information to increase behavioral motivation, thus limiting the application of these new technologies for public health benefit. The impact of communication about cancer risk factors depends, in part, on the prior beliefs and cognitive representations held about the disease feedback being conveyed. In particular, causal attributions - the beliefs people have about the causes of colorectal cancer - are an important, but understudied, determinant of whether and to what extent individuals take behavioral action to reduce the likelihood of developing the disease. A better understanding of causal attributions for colorectal cancer among the general population is essential in order to systematically and comprehensively delineate how people think about the causes of cancer, and identify those attributions that facilitate, or undermine, screening adherence and lifestyle change. Using a combination of survey and experimental research methodologies, two studies are being proposed that build on each other in logical sequence to 1) describe the nature of causal attributions for colorectal cancer and their association with screening and lifestyle behaviors, and 2) begin to experimentally test the impact of genetic and environmentally-focused risk communication messages on patterns of causal attributions and health behaviors among unaffected individuals. The training plan proposed supports this research by providing the necessary advanced mentoring and coursework in communication science, psychometric methods, intervention strategies, and advanced statistics. This will enable the PI to effectively conduct the studies and prepare her for an R01 submission in year 5, building on the findings obtained to create more refined messages for colorectal screening and prevention. This synergistic program of training and research will be essential to understanding how individuals respond to risk communication messages for colorectal cancer, as well as other cancer sites. Perhaps most importantly, the knowledge gained from these studies will be critical to inform the development and evaluation of theory-guided tailored interventions that focus on conveying genetic and/or environmental risk information to the general population in efforts to promote behavior change and, ultimately, public health benefits.