Understanding Text-Based Persuasion & Support Tactics of Concerned Significant Others

Below:  Tone by messaging scenario

Below:  Gain- and loss-framing by messaging scenario.

Below:  Social support type by messaging scenario.

Below:  Compassionate vs not compassionate messages coded as informational support.

The behavior of concerned significant others (CSOs) can have a measurable impact on the health and wellness of individuals attempting to meet behavioral and health goals, and research is needed to better understand the attributes of text-based CSO language when encouraging target significant others (TSOs) to achieve those goals. In an effort to inform the development of interventions for CSOs, this study examined the language content of brief text-based messages generated by CSOs to motivate TSOs to achieve a behavioral goal. CSOs generated brief text-based messages for TSOs for three scenarios: (1) to help TSOs achieve the goal, (2) in the event that the TSO is struggling to meet the goal, and (3) in the event that the TSO has given up on meeting the goal. Results indicate that there was a significant relationship between the tone and compassion of messages generated by CSOs, the CSOs’ perceptions of TSO motivation, and their expectation of a grateful or annoyed reaction by the TSO to their feedback or support. Results underscore the importance of attending to patterns in language when CSOs communicate with TSOs about goal achievement or failure, and how certain variables in the CSOs’ perceptions of their TSOs affect these characteristics.

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The Integrated Gateway Model: A Catalytic Approach to Behavior Change

Below:  The Integrated Gateway Model

Objectives

To develop and test an Integrated Gateway Model of behaviors and factors leading to subsequent positive reproductive, maternal, and child health behaviors.

Methods

A secondary analysis was conducted using previously published household survey data collected from men (n = 5551; 2011) and women (n = 16 144; 2011) in Nigeria and women in Egypt (n = 2240; 2004–2007). The number of health behaviors each potential gateway behavior predicted was assessed by multivariate regression, adjusting for potential confounders. The influence of gateway factors on gateway behaviors was tested via interaction terms. Gateway behaviors and factors were ranked by the number of health outcomes predicted, both separately and synergistically.

Results

The key gateway behavior identified in both datasets was spousal communication about family planning, whereas the key gateway factor was exposure to family planning messages.

Conclusions

The model could facilitate innovative research and programming that in turn might promote cascades of positive behaviors in reproductive, maternal, and child health.

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