April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Using the Health Belief Model on Instagram to Promote Sexual Health Education and Safe Sex Practices Among College Students
Context:
The Health Belief Model (HBM) has been widely used as a framework in health education and preventive health behaviors. This study aimed to explore the influence of the HBM constructs (perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy, and call to action) in statements displayed on Instagram posts to predict college students’ intentions to adopt preventive health behaviors for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Methods:
In this blinded randomized experimental study, 30 first year college students aged 18-20 years were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The students completed a survey that included questions on demographics, questions related to HBM constructs of attitudes and behavior toward their sexual health before and after seeing an Instagram image, and their narrative thoughts on the image. Students were randomly assigned to one of four survey versions, which differed in the statement presented on the image.
The statements written on the Instagram posts included information taken directly from the CDC website, and focused on chlamydia, gonorrhea, and testing. The first condition contained an image with a statement on susceptibility and severity of chlamydia and gonorrhea. The second condition contained an image with a statement on benefits and barriers of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea. The third condition contained an image with a statement on susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers to include all four constructs of the HBM. In addition, the first three conditions had a caption under the image that contained a statement on two additional HBM components, which were self-efficacy and call to action. The fourth condition was the control, which did not have an informative message on the image, nor a caption.
The students were asked a set of three questions before and after they were exposed to the Instagram post depicted in their respective survey. Questions focused on how likely they were to get tested for STIs, how likely they were to use condoms or other barriers (female condoms, dental dams), and how likely they were to seek information about STIs and testing.
Findings:
Condition 3, which contained all six constructs of the HBM was the most effective at predicting college students’ intentions to engage in preventive health behaviors for STIs. After viewing the post from Condition 3, there was a 19% increase in likelihood to get tested for STIs, 16% increase in likelihood to use barrier methods, and 9% increase in likelihood to seek information among those surveyed. The increases seen in this group were the greatest compared to all other conditions. This study highlights the potential usefulness of incorporating all six HBM constructs in targeted social media messaging toward college students for STI health promotion campaigns on Instagram. Incorporating posts using the HBM as a framework has the potential to increase the likelihood that college students adopt safer attitudes towards their sexual health and reduce high-risk sexual behaviors. This study focused on the Instagram platform due to its widespread use among college students, but future studies may explore the use of the HBM constructs in other social media platforms.
The Health Belief Model (HBM) has been widely used as a framework in health education and preventive health behaviors. This study aimed to explore the influence of the HBM constructs (perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy, and call to action) in statements displayed on Instagram posts to predict college students’ intentions to adopt preventive health behaviors for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Methods:
In this blinded randomized experimental study, 30 first year college students aged 18-20 years were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The students completed a survey that included questions on demographics, questions related to HBM constructs of attitudes and behavior toward their sexual health before and after seeing an Instagram image, and their narrative thoughts on the image. Students were randomly assigned to one of four survey versions, which differed in the statement presented on the image.
The statements written on the Instagram posts included information taken directly from the CDC website, and focused on chlamydia, gonorrhea, and testing. The first condition contained an image with a statement on susceptibility and severity of chlamydia and gonorrhea. The second condition contained an image with a statement on benefits and barriers of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea. The third condition contained an image with a statement on susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers to include all four constructs of the HBM. In addition, the first three conditions had a caption under the image that contained a statement on two additional HBM components, which were self-efficacy and call to action. The fourth condition was the control, which did not have an informative message on the image, nor a caption.
The students were asked a set of three questions before and after they were exposed to the Instagram post depicted in their respective survey. Questions focused on how likely they were to get tested for STIs, how likely they were to use condoms or other barriers (female condoms, dental dams), and how likely they were to seek information about STIs and testing.
Findings:
Condition 3, which contained all six constructs of the HBM was the most effective at predicting college students’ intentions to engage in preventive health behaviors for STIs. After viewing the post from Condition 3, there was a 19% increase in likelihood to get tested for STIs, 16% increase in likelihood to use barrier methods, and 9% increase in likelihood to seek information among those surveyed. The increases seen in this group were the greatest compared to all other conditions. This study highlights the potential usefulness of incorporating all six HBM constructs in targeted social media messaging toward college students for STI health promotion campaigns on Instagram. Incorporating posts using the HBM as a framework has the potential to increase the likelihood that college students adopt safer attitudes towards their sexual health and reduce high-risk sexual behaviors. This study focused on the Instagram platform due to its widespread use among college students, but future studies may explore the use of the HBM constructs in other social media platforms.