The Role of Agency and Threat-Immediacy in Interactive Digital Narrative Fear Appeals
NCT ID: NCT05321238
Last Updated: 2022-04-22
Study Results
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Basic Information
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COMPLETED
NA
178 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2020-11-26
2020-12-18
Brief Summary
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The first aim of the study was to assess the effect of agency, i.e. the perception of making meaningful decisions, in an interactive digital narrative fear appeal on self-efficacy beliefs concerning the ability to reduce alcohol intake among college students. Second, we assessed whether the communicated timeframe (short-term / long-term) of the threat presented in the narrative moderates the effect of agency on self-efficacy. Lastly, to validate the effect of the intervention on behavioural outcomes we assesed whether self-efficacy has an effect on behavioural intention measures.
The study was a 2 (agency: low / high) x 2 (time-frame: immediate / distant) between-subjects online experiment.
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Detailed Description
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Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
PREVENTION
SINGLE
Study Groups
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High agency and immediate threat
Participants were asked to make decisions within the interactive digital narrative and were presented with acute alcohol poisoning of the main character in the story.
High agency and immediate threat
Participants were asked to make several decisions for the main character in the interactive digital narrative that related to drinking / turning down alcoholic drinks.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from acute alcohol poisoning after ingesting too much alcohol in a short period of time.
High agency and distant threat
Participants were asked to make decisions within the interactive digital narrative and were presented with multiple organ failure after years of alcohol consumption of the main character in the story.
High agency and distant threat
Participants were asked to make several decisions for the main character in the interactive digital narrative that related to drinking / turning down alcoholic drinks.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from multiple organ failure after ingesting too much alcohol over a long period of time.
Low agency and immediate threat
Participants were presented with a fixed (passive) narrative without decisions and were presented with acute alcohol poisoning of the main character in the story.
Low agency and immediate threat
Participants were asked to read a narrative in which the main character turns down alcoholic drinks at a party. The participants can not influence the decisions of the main character and only consume the narrative passively.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from acute alcohol poisoning after ingesting too much alcohol in a short period of time.
Low agency and distant threat
Participants were presented with a fixed (passive) narrative without decisions and were presented with multiple organ failure after years of alcohol consumption of the main character in the story.
Low agency and distant threat
Participants were asked to read a narrative in which the main character turns down alcoholic drinks at a party. The participants can not influence the decisions of the main character and only consume the narrative passively.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from multiple organ failure after ingesting too much alcohol over a long period of time.
Interventions
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High agency and immediate threat
Participants were asked to make several decisions for the main character in the interactive digital narrative that related to drinking / turning down alcoholic drinks.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from acute alcohol poisoning after ingesting too much alcohol in a short period of time.
High agency and distant threat
Participants were asked to make several decisions for the main character in the interactive digital narrative that related to drinking / turning down alcoholic drinks.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from multiple organ failure after ingesting too much alcohol over a long period of time.
Low agency and immediate threat
Participants were asked to read a narrative in which the main character turns down alcoholic drinks at a party. The participants can not influence the decisions of the main character and only consume the narrative passively.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from acute alcohol poisoning after ingesting too much alcohol in a short period of time.
Low agency and distant threat
Participants were asked to read a narrative in which the main character turns down alcoholic drinks at a party. The participants can not influence the decisions of the main character and only consume the narrative passively.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from multiple organ failure after ingesting too much alcohol over a long period of time.
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* 480 seconds survey completion time
* both attention checks relating to narrative content passed
* correctly identified their experimental condition in the manipulation check
* did not choose to 'drink an alcoholic drink' for all decisions in the interactive narrative
* did not show signs of alcohol abuse
Exclusion Criteria
* completed the questionnaire in an unreasonably short amount of time
* they failed one of the two attention checks
* failed the manipulation check asking them to recall whether they were presented with short- or long-term (high / low immediacy) consequences of excessive drinking
* chose an alcoholic drink for all decision points
* showed signs of alcohol dependence as measured above 15 on the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ)
18 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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Tilburg University
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Hendrik Engelbrecht
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigators
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Hendrik Engelbrecht
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Tilburg University
Locations
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Tilburg University
Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands
Countries
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References
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Engelbrecht H, van der Laan LN, van Enschot R, Krahmer E. The Role of Agency and Threat Immediacy in Interactive Digital Narrative Fear Appeals for the Prevention of Excessive Alcohol Use: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Serious Games. 2022 Jun 13;10(2):e32218. doi: 10.2196/32218.
Other Identifiers
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2020.141
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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