Worksite obesity prevention interventions using an ecological approach may hold promise for reducing typical weight gain. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Go!, an innovative 12-month multi-component worksite obesity prevention intervention.

Background: Obesity prevention efforts typically involve changing eating and exercise behaviors as well as the physical and social environment in which those behaviors occur. Due to existing social networks, worksites are a logical choice for implementing such interventions. Purpose: This article describes the development and implementation of a peer helper intervention, which was part of a multicomponent obesity prevention program conducted at a hospital worksite. It also presents qualitative evaluation findings of peer helper perceptions, roles, and institutional outcomes. Methods: Fifty-one male and female employees were recruited to promote healthy eating and physical activity amongst their peers. They received health and communication skill-building training. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 peer helpers to evaluate this component of the intervention. Results: Findings showed that peer helpers took on many helping roles, became effective role models, and contributed to creating health-promoting social and environmental changes at work. Discussion: We found evidence for synergies between the peer helper component and other components of the campaign and present recommendations and questions related to best practices for peer helper interventions at worksites. Translation to Health Education Practice: Training on the use of peer helpers and the incorporation of peer helper components into interventions is needed.

This study examines the effects of apology cues following a relational transgression. Three competing theoretical explanations are examined in a test of two types of cues a victim might use to encourage an apology: An emotional expression cue in which the victim states the negative outcomes of the transgression and an explicit demand cue in which the victim demands an apology directly. We cross completely emotional expression and explicit demand cues in an experimental design to compare their independent and conjoint effects on the victims' psychological readiness to accept an apology. Results suggest that both cue types are associated with more positive relational outcomes than a spontaneous apology.

This study examines the ability of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict whether or not pediatricians encourage parents to get their adolescent daughters vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV). Four-hundred and six pediatricians completed a mail survey measuring attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and behavior. Results indicate that pediatricians have positive attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control toward encouraging parents to get their daughters vaccinated, that they intend to regularly encourage parents to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV in the next 30 days, and that they had regularly encouraged parents to get their daughters vaccinated against HPV in the past 30 days (behavior). Though the data were consistent with both the TRA and TPB models, results indicate that perceived behavioral control adds only slightly to the overall predictive power of the TRA, suggesting that attitudes and norms may be more important targets for interventions dealing with this topic and audience. No gender differences were observed for any of the individual variables or the overall fit of either model. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the development of health communication messages targeting health care providers in general, and for those designed to influence pediatricians' communication with parents regarding the HPV vaccine in particular.

Little research informs the use of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) of persuasion when threat and efficacy judgments are rendered for someone other than the message recipient. Nevertheless, a wide range of health promotion consists of influencing such judgments. Two studies examine the utility of using the EPPM in a context involving threats to others. Results show that the expected measurement models hold in this new context, and that an additive model is a stronger fit than a multiplicative one when considering how threat and efficacy combine to affect behavioral intentions but not when considering behavior. The study also examines the effects of a print intervention implemented with school employees in Michigan derived from the EPPM. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical import and their application in this new context.

Theory and research reported in this paper provide both theoretical and methodological advances in the study of predicted outcome value theory (POV) in established, ongoing relationships. From a theoretical perspective, POV, previously a theory focused solely on initial interaction behaviors and consequences, is extended into the realm of ongoing relationships. The propositions of the theory are reformulated and hypotheses derived from them are tested. Overall, the results strongly support this extension and shed new light on its role in understanding the effect of unexpected events. Methodologically, the study provides a longitudinal approach for assessing ongoing relationships both before and after the occurrence of an unexpected event.

A robust finding in compliance-seeking message effects research is that providing an unsolicited favor to a target before making a direct request for compliance is more effective than a direct request alone. Explaining this effect, however, has proven a more elusive goal. Most existing studies either do not examine potential mediators of the favor-compliance relationship or restrict their focus to one or two potential mediators. In this study, the authors extend compliance research by testing five potential explanations for the favor-compliance relationship and examine the relationship in an untested context, a cross-sex date request. We also examine the impact of another important predictor of compliance, socioeconomic status (SES). Findings suggest that favor and SES interact to affect compliance with a date request and that the positive affective mechanisms of gratitude, liking, and physical attraction best explain these effects. Implications for understanding human reciprocal behavior and its explanatory mechanisms are discussed.

Journal of School HealthVolume 76, Issue 6 p. 259-263 Developing an Asthma Tool for Schools: The Formative Evaluation of the Michigan Asthma School Packet Ryan Goei, Ryan GoeiSearch for more papers by this authorAaron R. Boyson, Aaron R. BoysonSearch for more papers by this authorSarah K. Lyon-Callo, Sarah K. Lyon-CalloSearch for more papers by this authorCheryl Schott, Cheryl SchottSearch for more papers by this authorElizabeth Wasilevich, Elizabeth WasilevichSearch for more papers by this authorShawn Cannarile, Shawn CannarileSearch for more papers by this author Ryan Goei, Ryan GoeiSearch for more papers by this authorAaron R. Boyson, Aaron R. BoysonSearch for more papers by this authorSarah K. Lyon-Callo, Sarah K. Lyon-CalloSearch for more papers by this authorCheryl Schott, Cheryl SchottSearch for more papers by this authorElizabeth Wasilevich, Elizabeth WasilevichSearch for more papers by this authorShawn Cannarile, Shawn CannarileSearch for more papers by this author First published: 16 August 2006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2006.00108.xCitations: 9 Ryan Goei, PhD, Assistant Professor ([email protected]), Department of Communication, University of Minnesota Duluth, 455 AB Anderson Hall, 1121 University Drive, Duluth, MN 55812; 2Aaron R. Boyson, PhD, Assistant Professor ([email protected]), Department of Communication, University of Kentucky, 238 Grehan, Lexington, KY 40506; 3Sarah K. Lyon-Callo, MA, MS, Acting Section Manager ([email protected]), Chronic Disease Epidemiology Section, Bureau of Epidemiology, Michigan Department of Community Health, 3423 North Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, PO Box 30195, Lansing, MI 48909; 4Cheryl Schott, MPH, Asthma Program Specialist (former position), Michigan Public Health Institute, and Consultant (current position, self-employed) ([email protected]), 22209 Cascade Drive, Novi, MI 48375; 5Elizabeth Wasilevich, MPH, Asthma Epidemiologist ([email protected]), Michigan Department of Community Health, PO Box 30195, 3423 North Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, PO Box 30195, Lansing, MI 48909; 6Shawn Cannarile, BA, Asthma In-Schools Coordinator ([email protected]), Michigan Public Health Institute, 2438 Woodlake Circle, Suite 240, Okemos, MI 48864. Funded by Cooperative Agreement Number U59/CCU517742-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These formative data were collected between May and November 2004. The authors would like to thank the Michigan Asthma in Schools Workgroup for meeting repeatedly over the past 4 years and bringing the Michigan Asthma School Packet to fruition. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL References 1 Witte K. Fear control and danger control: a test of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). Commun Monogr. 1994; 61: 113– 134. 2 Roberts-Gray C, Solomon T, Gottlieb N, Kelsey E. Heart partners: a strategy for promoting effective diffusion of school health promotion programs. J Sch Health. 1998; 68: 106– 111. 3 Brown J, Kiernan N. Assessing the subsequent effect of a formative evaluation on a program. Eval Prog Plann. 2001; 24: 129– 143. 4 Skinner CS, Campbell MK, Rimer BK, Curry S, Prochaska JO. How effective is tailored print communication? Ann Behav Med. 1999; 21: 290– 298. Citing Literature Volume76, Issue6August 2006Pages 259-263 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Several studies suggest that providing a favor to a target before making a direct request for compliance is more effective than making a direct request alone. The most widely accepted explanation for this effect is that receiving favors causes beneficiaries to feel obligated to repay. Another potential explanation is that beneficiaries comply out of gratitude to the benefactor. Past conceptualizations frequently confound obligation and gratitude and no research tests these alternative explanations. We advance the study of reciprocal behavior by making conceptual distinctions between obligation and gratitude, and testing these two presumed mediating states in two experiments. Results demonstrate that obligation and gratitude can be empirically distinguished, supporting the gratitude explanation, but not the obligation explanation.

In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 134 individuals from violent crime prevention and intervention programs in Michigan. Primary areas of inquiry included program focus and activities, target audience characteristics, research and evaluation efforts, and barriers and needs for successful implementation. The three most common programmatic areas dealt with violent crimes against women, and the three most common programmatic activities included public presentations, public education, and counseling. Programs provided services to females more then males, adolescents and young adults more than other age groups, and victims more than perpetrators. By far the biggest barrier was funding, and the biggest needs concerned program evaluation, data collection and analyses methods, and knowledge about behavioral change theory. Implications for violent crime prevention and intervention policy and programs are discussed.

This study examines two accounts to explain why doing a favor for someone leads to increased compliance from that person. Feelings of obligation and liking are posited as independent mediators of the relationship between favors and compliance. A model was tested with a sample of 73 female undergraduate participants. The model posited that attitude similarity leads to perceived similarity and subsequent feelings of liking, that favors lead to liking and obligation, and that liking and obligation lead to increased compliance. Findings indicated that favors increased liking and obligation and that liking affected compliance but obligation had no effect on compliance. The results challenge conventional wisdom concerning the influence of the norm of reciprocity.