ABSTRACT

Celebrity announcements of diagnoses or deaths often generate talk. In turn, talk can spur health-related behaviors. Yet, very few studies have examined interpersonal talk about cancer as an outcome of celebrity announcements about health. Furthermore, questions remain about the theoretical predictors of such interpersonal communication. The present study investigated individual and network-level factors associated with interpersonal talk about cancer among Black women following the death of Aretha Franklin. Findings from a cross-sectional survey (N = 239) indicated that more than 40% of women talked about cancer, and more than half expressed intentions to talk about cancer with their family and friends. Network-level factors (health mavenism, network heterogeneity) were significantly associated with actual and intended interpersonal cancer talk. Of the individual-level predictors, emotional reactions were significantly related to actual and intended interpersonal communication. Understanding theoretical predictors of interpersonal cancer talk could lead to better structurally centered capacity-building strategies to mobilize peer-to-peer sharing among network-engaged Black women.

摘要

名人的诊断或死亡公告通常会引起讨论。反过来，谈话可以刺激与健康相关的行为。然而，很少有研究将人际间关于癌症的谈论作为名人宣布健康的结果。此外，关于这种人际交流的理论预测因素仍然存在问题。本研究调查了与艾瑞莎·富兰克林去世后​​黑人女性之间关于癌症的人际谈话相关的个人和网络层面的因素。横断面调查结果（N = 239) 表明超过 40% 的女性谈论过癌症，超过一半的女性表示有意与家人和朋友谈论癌症。网络层面的因素（健康专家主义、网络异质性）与实际和预期的人际癌症谈话显着相关。在个人层面的预测因素中，情绪反应与实际和预期的人际沟通显着相关。了解人际癌症谈话的理论预测因素可能会导致更好的以结构为中心的能力建设战略，以动员网络参与的黑人女性之间的对等共享。