Cyberbullying has provoked public concern after well-publicized suicides of adolescents. This mixed-methods study investigates the social representation of these suicides. A content analysis of 184 U.S. newspaper articles on death by suicide associated with cyberbullying or aggression found that few articles adhered to guidelines suggested by the World Health Organization and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to protect against suicidal behavioral contagion. Few articles made reference to suicide or bullying prevention resources, and most suggested that the suicide had a single cause. Thematic analysis of a subset of articles found that individual deaths by suicide were used as cautionary tales to prompt attention to cyberbullying. This research suggests that newspaper coverage of these events veers from evidence-based guidelines and that more work is needed to determine how best to engage with journalists about the potential consequences of cyberbullying and suicide coverage.

Background Antiobesity campaigns blaming individual behaviors for obesity have sparked concern that an emphasis on individual behavior may lead to stigmatization of overweight or obese people. Past studies have shown that perpetuating stigma is not effective for influencing behavior. Purpose This study examined whether stigmatizing or nonstigmatizing images and text in antiobesity advertisements led to differences in health-related behavioral intentions. Method Participants in this experiment were 161 American adults. Measures included self-reported body mass index, weight satisfaction, antifat attitudes, and intention to increase healthy behaviors. Results Images in particular prompted intention to increase healthy behavior, but only among participants who were not overweight or obese. Conclusion Images and text emphasizing individual responsibility for obesity may influence behavioral intention among those who are not overweight, but they do not seem to be effective at altering behavioral intentions among overweight people, the target audience for many antiobesity messages. Images in antiobesity messages intended to alter behavior are influential and should be selected carefully.

Given the increasingly widespread use of mobile phones in the developing world, the application of this technology for healthcare (also referred to as m-health) has tremendous potential. However, there is a need for more research on factors that influence the sustainable and scalable adoption of m-health in developing countries. To fill this gap, in this study, drawing on the theory of diffusion of innovation, we conducted in-depth interviews with 29 health professionals in Sri Lanka to understand their views on the benefits and barriers to adopting m-health. Participants had mixed views on the adoption of this technology. Reasons for m-health adoption included efficiency and usefulness in emergency situations. Barriers to adoption included risks for miscommunication/misinterpretation and lack of systems/policies for implementing m-health technology. With regard to the innovation-decision process, most participants appear to be in the stages of "persuasion" and "decision"; with regard to degree of innovativeness, interviewees comprise a mix of "early adopters" and "laggards." Assuming mobile health apps afford improvements in health outcomes for developing countries, contextual factors in each national setting should inform design and implementation of m-health interventions.

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An estimated 100 million Americans are living with chronic pain. The majority of the chronic pain literature focuses on the biological impact of the condition, and very little attention is given to patients’ lived experience with chronic pain and the enactment of their resiliency. Yet, resiliency may play a critical role in patients’ experience of pain intensity as well as self-efficacy to manage their pain. The main objective of this study was to explore the origin and enactment of resiliency across a sample of 12 chronic pain patients. In-depth phone interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results indicate that patients exhibited resiliency in four ways: (1) developing a sense of control—independently seeking information and cross-checking this information with their doctors’ recommendations, (2) active engagement in medical and complementary treatment, (3) establishing social connections, and (4) exhibiting pain acceptance and positive affect. This study lays the foundation to explore whether resiliency improves clinical outcomes among patients living with chronic pain. The findings support the need for clinicians to evaluate and treat chronic pain patients through the lens of resiliency.

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Hispanic/Latinx persons have disproportionately lower breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates than non-Hispanic White (NHW) persons. This low participation in cancer screening results in late-stage cancer diagnosis among Hispanic persons compared to NHW persons. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions effectively improve cancer screening rates in the general population; however, few reviews about mHealth interventions are tailored to Hispanic populations. This is important to investigate given that Hispanic persons differ from NHW persons with regard to culture, language, and health care utilization. Therefore, in this study, we investigated: (a) What types of mHealth interventions have been undertaken to increase cancer screening rates among Hispanic persons in the United States? (b) How effective have these interventions been? and (c) What features of these interventions help increase cancer screening rates? Searches conducted during December 2020 identified 10 articles published between January 2017 and December 2020 that met our inclusion criteria. The review revealed that mHealth interventions mainly provided education about cancer and cancer screening using videos, PowerPoint slides, and interactive multimedia. mHealth interventions that effectively improved screening behavior were mainly for easy-to-screen cancers like skin and cervical cancer. Finally, reviewed studies did not provide details on how cultural adaptations were made, and it is unclear what specific features of mHealth interventions increase cancer screening rates among Hispanic persons. Future research should identify and evaluate the effects of different components of culturally tailored interventions on cancer screening. Public health practitioners and health care providers should tailor mHealth approaches to their clients or patients and practice environment.