Self-Affirmation and Responses to Smoking Risk Messages among African Americans

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的总体目的是利用心理和沟通科学的新发展来解决基于沟通的戒烟努力中的一个关键障碍-吸烟者对吸烟风险信息作出防御反应的倾向-并将相关知识应用于促进非裔美国吸烟者的戒烟。该项目旨在评估一种基于自我肯定理论的创新方法，以抑制吸烟者对吸烟风险信息的防御性处理，在一项基于实验室的随机试验中，涉及非裔美国吸烟者。具体来说，这个项目旨在1)确定自我肯定（与不自我肯定相比）是否会减少对香烟图形警告标签的防御反应；2)确定自我肯定（相对于没有自我肯定）是否会导致更消极的显性和隐性吸烟态度，更大的戒烟意图，并在接触香烟图形警告标签后减少香烟消费量；3)研究吸烟认同是否会调节自我肯定的影响。拟议的项目涉及一个重大的公共卫生问题以及与烟草有关的重大健康差异。本研究将推进自我肯定作为减少吸烟者对吸烟风险信息的防御性处理机制的科学知识。这些发现将直接关系到将吸烟风险沟通的基础行为科学转化为增强的戒烟方法。如果自我肯定在随机试验中发挥预期的作用，自我肯定任务可以很容易地在基于沟通的戒烟干预中实施，以提高结果。拟议的研究还将为正在进行的公共卫生辩论提供直接证据，这些辩论涉及在美国将图形警告标签作为一种宣传吸烟风险的手段的有效性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching purpose of the proposed research is to harness new developments in psychological and communication sciences to address a key obstacle in communication-based smoking cessation efforts - the tendency for smokers to react defensively toward smoking risk information - and apply relevant knowledge to the promotion of smoking cessation among African American smokers. The proposed project seeks to evaluate an innovative approach based on self-affirmation theory to suppressing smokers' defensive processing of smoking risk information in a laboratory-based randomized trial involving African American smokers. Specifically, this project aims to 1) determine whether self-affirmation (vs. no self-affirmation) reduces defensive responses toward graphic cigarette warning labels; 2) ascertain whether self-affirmation (vs. no self- affirmation) leads to more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward smoking, greater intentions to quit, and reduced cigarette consumption following exposure to graphic cigarette warning labels; and 3) investigate whether smoking identity moderates the effects of self-affirmation. The proposed project addresses a major public health concern as well as significant tobacco-related health disparities. This study will advance scientific knowledge on self-affirmation as a mechanism for reducing smokers' defensive processing of smoking risk messages. The findings will be directly relevant to the translation of the basic behavioral science underlying smoking risk communication into enhanced smoking cessation approaches. If self-affirmation functions as expected in the proposed randomized trial, a self-affirmation task can be easily implemented in communication-based smoking cessation interventions to enhance the outcomes. The proposed study will also provide direct evidence relevant to the ongoing public health debate concerning the effectiveness of graphic warning labels as a means of communicating smoking risks in the United States.