The Role of Agency and Threat-Immediacy in Interactive Digital Narrative Fear Appeals

NCT05321238 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2020.141
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 178
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Aims: The first aim of the study was to assess the effect of agency, i.e. the perception of making meaningful decisions, in an interactive digital narrative fear appeal on self-efficacy beliefs concerning the ability to reduce alcohol intake among college students. Second, we assessed whether the communicated timeframe (short-term / long-term) of the threat presented in the narrative moderates the effect of agency on self-efficacy. Lastly, to validate the effect of the intervention on behavioural outcomes we assesed whether self-efficacy has an effect on behavioural intention measures. The study was a 2 (agency: low / high) x 2 (time-frame: immediate / distant) between-subjects online experiment.

Conditions

Excessive Drinking

Keywords

agency; fear appeal; alcohol; narrative

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Perceived self-efficacy

  Three items answered on 7-point Likert scales (ranging from 'Strongly Disagree' to 'Strongly Agree'): 1. I am able to limit my alcohol intake to low amounts. 2. It is easy for me to limit my alcohol intake to low amounts. 3. I can limit my alcohol intake to low amounts.

  During the lab session

• Behavioural intention

  Four items answered on 7-point Likert scales (ranging from 'Strongly Disagree' to 'Strongly Agree'): 1. I intend to limit my alcohol intake to low amounts. 2. I intend to limit my alcohol intake to low amounts on special occasions. 3. I intend to limit my alcohol intake to low amounts when being with friends. 4. I intend to limit my alcohol intake to low amounts when I am by myself.

  During the lab session

Other Outcomes (7)

• Perceived Agency

  During the lab session

• Fear

  During the lab session

• Perceived Severity, Susceptability and Response-Efficacy

  During the lab session

Study Arms (4)

High agency and immediate threat

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants were asked to make decisions within the interactive digital narrative and were presented with acute alcohol poisoning of the main character in the story.

Other: High agency and immediate threat

High agency and distant threat

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants were asked to make decisions within the interactive digital narrative and were presented with multiple organ failure after years of alcohol consumption of the main character in the story.

Other: High agency and distant threat

Low agency and immediate threat

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants were presented with a fixed (passive) narrative without decisions and were presented with acute alcohol poisoning of the main character in the story.

Other: Low agency and immediate threat

Low agency and distant threat

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants were presented with a fixed (passive) narrative without decisions and were presented with multiple organ failure after years of alcohol consumption of the main character in the story.

Other: Low agency and distant threat

Interventions

High agency and immediate threat OTHER

Participants were asked to make several decisions for the main character in the interactive digital narrative that related to drinking / turning down alcoholic drinks.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from acute alcohol poisoning after ingesting too much alcohol in a short period of time.

High agency and immediate threat

High agency and distant threat OTHER

Participants were asked to make several decisions for the main character in the interactive digital narrative that related to drinking / turning down alcoholic drinks.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from multiple organ failure after ingesting too much alcohol over a long period of time.

High agency and distant threat

Low agency and immediate threat OTHER

Participants were asked to read a narrative in which the main character turns down alcoholic drinks at a party. The participants can not influence the decisions of the main character and only consume the narrative passively.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from acute alcohol poisoning after ingesting too much alcohol in a short period of time.

Low agency and immediate threat

Low agency and distant threat OTHER

Participants were asked to read a narrative in which the main character turns down alcoholic drinks at a party. The participants can not influence the decisions of the main character and only consume the narrative passively.The decisions made lead to a ending consistent with the decisions of the participant. In the story presented, a character dies from multiple organ failure after ingesting too much alcohol over a long period of time.

Low agency and distant threat

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• above 18 years of age
• seconds survey completion time
• both attention checks relating to narrative content passed
• correctly identified their experimental condition in the manipulation check
• did not choose to 'drink an alcoholic drink' for all decisions in the interactive narrative
• did not show signs of alcohol abuse

You may not qualify if:

• under the age of 18
• completed the questionnaire in an unreasonably short amount of time
• they failed one of the two attention checks
• failed the manipulation check asking them to recall whether they were presented with short- or long-term (high / low immediacy) consequences of excessive drinking
• chose an alcoholic drink for all decision points
• showed signs of alcohol dependence as measured above 15 on the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tilburg University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Tilburg University

Tilburg, North Brabant, 5037AB, Netherlands

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Engelbrecht H, van der Laan LN, van Enschot R, Krahmer E. The Role of Agency and Threat Immediacy in Interactive Digital Narrative Fear Appeals for the Prevention of Excessive Alcohol Use: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Serious Games. 2022 Jun 13;10(2):e32218. doi: 10.2196/32218.

  PMID: 35699976 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Narration

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Communication; Behavior

Study Officials

• Hendrik Engelbrecht

  Tilburg University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Participants were not aware which arm of the study they were enrolled in.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 1, 2022
• First Posted: April 11, 2022
• Study Start: November 26, 2020
• Primary Completion: December 18, 2020
• Study Completion: December 18, 2020
• Last Updated: April 22, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NL (1)