Abstract: Birds and Bees: Social Media Message Framing for Parent and Adolescent Conversations

◆ Megan Cox, University of Oklahoma
◆ Norman Wong, University of Oklahoma

The discussion of sexual activity with preteen and teenage children is an important task for parents, and teenagers express that they make better decisions about sexual activity if they can talk openly with their parents. Parents need to facilitate this conversation because the most recent High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that more than 27.4 % of those in high school in the United States are sexually active. Yet, these conversations do not always take place before teens have sex for the first time. Organizations have the opportunity to use social media to encourage parents to initiate these key conversations; however, health communicators are still gaining an understanding of how to be informative and engaging on important topics. Past research on gain- or loss-framed messages demonstrates the effectiveness of the wording used to encourage or discourage a health behavior, although the effect of psychological reactance may influence behavioral intention. Research suggests that parental goals and concerns may play a role in message receptivity. Therefore, this study examines social media health message framing for parents of current or future preteen children (ages 9 through 12). The study demonstrates how message design, psychological reactance, and parental goals influence attitudes, behavioral intention, and message receptivity. Research questions include the following: RQ1: What social media message frame works best to elicit positive attitudes among parents about discussing safe sexual activity with their preteen children? RQ2: What social media message frame is most effective to increase parents’ behavioral intention to discuss safe sexual activity with their preteen children? RQ3: What social media message frame for influencing parents to discuss safe sexual activity with their preteen children yields the highest level of message receptivity? RQ4: Are parents who highly value their children’s achievement more receptive to gain-framed messages or loss-framed messages aimed at encouraging parents to discuss safe sexual activity with their preteen children? RQ5: Are parents who highly value their children’s safety more receptive to gain-framed or loss-framed messages aimed at encouraging parents to discuss safe sexual activity with their preteen children? A between-subjects experimental design was used with 200 parents who had at least one child under the age of 12. The experiment included a pretest for trait reactance and parental concerns, followed by random assignment to one of two social media message framing treatment conditions (gain or loss). A post-test questionnaire measured the dependent variables of attitudes, behavioral intention, and message receptivity. Results found an interaction between parental concerns (achievement, safety) and message frame, such that: (a) Parents concerned for their child’s future success reported more positive attitudes, greater receptivity, and intent to initiate sex talks with their preteens when exposed to gain-framed (vs. loss-framed) messages, whereas (b) parents concerned about protecting their child from harm reported more positive attitudes, greater receptivity, and intent to initiate sex talks with preteens when exposed to loss-framed (vs. gain-framed) messages.