Three health communication researchers in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication are hoping to break new ground in the war on teenage drinking and driving, an issue the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine call a “largely invisible public health epidemic.”
The research by professors Bruce E. Pinkleton, Erica Weintraub Austin and Paul Bolls is made possible through a recent grant from the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation. The ABMRF describes itself as the largest independent, nonprofit foundation in North America devoted solely to supporting research on the effects of alcohol on health and behavior and the prevention of alcohol-related problems.
With funding of approximately $40,000 a year for two years, Pinkleton, Austin and Bolls will explore the potential of an interactive CD to communicate anti-drinking and driving messages to young people. Their focus is on prevention message testing, development and evaluation.
“Often, health campaigns fail because of a lack of understanding of processes that must take place within an individual between message exposure and behavior change,” said Bolls. “Our knowledge of these processes and how message characteristics affect them can guide the design of more effective health communication campaigns,” said Austin.
For several years, Austin and Pinkleton have served as consultants for evaluation of the statewide tobacco prevention campaign.
Findings of the health communication team eventually will be used by a Benton Franklin County, Wash., group to develop a complete teen anti-drinking/driving CD-ROM.
