OUR PROJECTS

LATEST FINDINGS

Message Framing to Inform Cancer Prevention Pricing Interventions in the UK and US: A Factorial Experiment, 2019

ReACH LAB Director, Dr. Elisa Trucco, alongside ReACH Lab Graduate Student, Julie Cristello, M.S., and colleagues at East Carolina University, University of Glasgow, University College London, and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, have published an article that aimed to advance research in message framing, and how this can maximize public support to change pricing policies for alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks/food, in the hopes of preventing consumption of cancer-causing products. The field of message framing “suggests that how information is presented changes how it is received and interpreted,” with support indicating that message framing can play an important role in implementation of policy changes. The study used samples drawn from both the UK and US and found that frames relating to children showed promise, suggesting that mentioning or including children in the message regarding policy had higher levels of support. There was also evidence that messages about tobacco products resulted in more support for raising the price of products compared to alcohol or sugary drinks/food. The results of this study highlights the importance of “bridging the research-practice gap” between research on message framing and how advocacy groups message to the public. 

Do Parents Still Matter? The Impact of Parents and Peers on Adolescent Electronic Cigarette Use

A new study conducted by ReACH Lab Director Dr. Elisa Trucco in collaboration with ReACH Lab Graduate Student Julie Cristello and ACE Project Co-PI Dr. Matthew Sutherland explored the effect of peer norms and parental attitudes towards e-cigarettes on adolescent e-cigarette intentions, future use, and positive expectancies of use. Using data from the ongoing ACE Project, results found that, while peer norms were associated with positive expectancies of e-cigarette use, positive expectancies did not mediate the association between peer norms and later e-cigarette use. Furthermore, researchers found that parents’ perceptions of the harms of e-cigarette use not only influence adolescent e-cigarette use intentions (when controlling for adolescent attitudes and perceived peer norms), but also predict lower rates of e-cigarette use via e-cigarette use intentions. Results from the study indicate that parents still play an active role in influencing early stages of e-cigarette use among their adolescent children.

Prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorder Among Individuals who Binge Eat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

A new study conducted by ReACH Lab Director Dr. Elisa Trucco in collaboration with colleagues at Nowowiejski Hospital, the Medical University of Warsaw, Florida International University, and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw recently published a meta-analysis exploring the rates of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) among individuals with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). The study found that, in a sample of nearly 70,000 participants, individuals with BED were more than 1.5 times at risk for developing life-time AUD compared to controls. Overall life-time prevalence of AUD among individuals who binge eat is 19.9%, nearly one in five patients. Results may be explained by neurobiological reward pathways, both of which are activated by food and alcohol.