Joshua Baldwin (Grady postdoc), Lee, Joomi (former Grady postdoc), Tate, Allan, Okitondo, Christian, Johnsen, Kyle, Schmidt, Michael, Rathbun, Stephen, Novotny, Eric (former Grady postdoc), & Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn (2023). “Mediating social support through sensor-based technologies for children’s health behavior change,” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(5), zmad011. doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad011
Abstract: Sensor-based technologies (SBTs) allow users to track biometric data and feature interactions that foster social support. The social support from SBTs can increase intrinsic motivation to engage in and sustain positive health behaviors. Guided by technological affordances and self-determination theory, this study tested the long-term efficacy of an ecosystem of SBTs to strengthen social support for children’s behavior change, children’s perceived relatedness, and positive physical activity (PA) attitudes. This ecosystem integrated Fitbits tracking each child’s PA, kiosks with virtual agents that synced with Fitbit data, and a messaging system for parents and children. Afterschool programs (N = 19) were randomly set with this ecosystem or a Fitbit with a computer for 6 months. Results suggested that parents of girls provided more social support to children via the ecosystem than parents of boys. Children’s perceived support from the virtual agent was positively associated with perceived relatedness and PA attitudes over time.
Bryan Trude (2023). “Multiplayer Support: Applying elements of the Dual Social Support Model to eSports,” In Farquhar, L. & Rogers, R. (Eds.), Esports Motivations: What’s Driving the Fastest Growing Sports Phenomenon? (Working Title). Lexington Books
“There is much to say about what motivates players to pick up and play eSports, but what motivates them to keep coming back? Even after the game has fallen out of popularity or has been replaced with newer, more cutting-edge titles? This chapter explores the motivations that keeps players engaging with the communities that build around the eSports titles they play, even after the lights have faded, and some of the social benefits these players draw from them beyond the ones they were looking for when they first picked the game up.”
Abstract: Scholars have adopted Street’s (2003) ecological model of communication in medical encounters to investigate the factors promoting patient participation in health care. However, factors demonstrated in the ecological model were bounded in the context of medical care primarily focusing on health care providers and patients. Social factors, such as patients’ relationships and supportive communication with others outside the context of health care remain relatively unexplored. To expand the purview of our understanding of factors that influence patient participation, this research integrated social support literature into the research on physician-patient communication, and proposed a model which describes a process through which social support can enhance patient participation in health care. The data analyzed in this study were a part of two larger clinical trials in which 661 women with breast cancer were recruited from three cancer institutions in the United States. The results from structural equation modeling analysis from cross-sectional and longitudinal data provided strong evidence for the hypotheses predicting that perceived social support was positively associated with health information competence, which in turn fully mediated the association between social support and patient participation in health care. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Abstract: Scholars have adopted Street’s (2003) ecological model of communication in medical encounters to investigate the factors promoting patient participation in health care. However, factors demonstrated in the ecological model were bounded in the context of medical care primarily focusing on health care providers and patients. Social factors, such as patients’ relationships and supportive communication with others outside the context of health care remain relatively unexplored. To expand the purview of our understanding of factors that influence patient participation, this research integrated social support literature into the research on physician-patient communication and proposed a model which described a process through which social support can enhance patient participation in health care. The data analyzed in this study were a part of two larger clinical trials in which 661 women with breast cancer were recruited from three cancer institutions in the United States. The results from structural equation modeling analysis from cross-sectional and longitudinal data provided strong evidence for the hypotheses predicting that perceived social support was positively associated with health information competence, which in turn fully mediated the association between social support and patient participation in health care. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
