COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri researchers have found that positive messages, or “gain-framed” messages, are a more effective way to communicate with college students about the dangers of binge drinking.
During the study, participants received either negative or positive PSA messages addressing binge drinking in regards to relationships, academic success, health and control safety, the University of Missouri News Bureau reports. Participants responded most positively to gain-framed messages about how avoiding binge drinking can increase the quality of their relationships.
There are very few existing gain-framed anti-binge drinking PSAs according to Seoyeon Kim, one of the authors of the study. Kim said the results of the study indicate that when colleges create anti-binge drinking messages, they need to ensure that the audience-specific content has potential value.
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