Rebecca A Ferrer
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 211523 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Rebecca A Ferrer |
| PRENOMES | Rebecca A |
| SOBRENOME | Ferrer |
| ASSINATURA | FERRER R A |
| AFILIAÇÕES | National Cancer Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1069-9989 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 40 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 62 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 40 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2007 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
Message reactance as a mediator of effects of alcohol and cancer risk messages
This study examined whether message reactance mediates the cognitive effects of messages about the causal relationship between alcohol and cancer. We randomly assigned US adults (N = 799) recruited from a commercial online research panel to receive one of two types of messages about the alcohol-cancer link: (1) high-certainty (e.g., “Drinking alcohol causes cancer”), and (2) low-certainty, employing the modal verb “may” (e.g., “Drinking alcohol m…
Personal and partner experiences of discrimination
Increasing Receptivity to Covid-19 Public Health Messages with Self-Affirmation and Self vs. Other Framing
There remains an urgent need for effective communication about the importance of widespread adherence to behavioral recommendations to control the COVID-19 pandemic that will also reduce resistance to such guidance. We examined two strategies for COVID-19 communication— (1) self-affirmation (reflecting on a personal value in order to boost self-integrity and reduce defensiveness to potentially threatening information); and (2) manipulating self/o…
Sun protection behavior
Sun protection behavior can reduce skin cancer risk. This paper provides an overview of skin cancer risk and the complex behavioral options for sun protection, along with a narrative review of research on determinants of, and interventions to promote, sun protection. Gaps and opportunities for future research are also outlined. Evidence supports the effectiveness of sunscreen use, ultraviolet (UV) protection clothing, and shade seeking. However, …
Associations between absolute and relative electronic cigarette harm perceptions and information‐seeking behaviours among US adult current, former and never smokers
Smoking self-concept moderates the effects of self-affirmation on smoking-related beliefs and behavioral intentions
OBJECTIVE: Smoking stigmatization has been shown to hinder cigarette smoking cessation, especially among individuals with a strong smoker identity. Self-affirmation, a psychological threat-management coping strategy, can promote smoking cessation, and may mitigate the adverse consequences of stigmatization. DESIGN: Data from an online sample of 1,020 U.S. adult smokers were analyzed using multiple linear regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Partici…
Self-affirmation inductions to reduce defensive processing of threatening health risk information
OBJECTIVE: Self-affirmation reduces defensiveness toward threatening health messages. In this study, we compared several possible self-affirmation inductions in order to identify the most effective strategy. DESIGN: = 1,056), randomly assigned to one of 11 self-affirmation conditions, and presented with an article about the link between alcohol intake and breast cancer risk. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants answered questions that measured key…
Understanding responses to different types of conflicting information about cancer prevention
How beliefs about weight malleability and risk perceptions for obesity influence parents' information seeking and feeding
This study surveyed 185 parents to determine whether their perceived risk of their child developing obesity and their implicit theories about the malleability of weight independently and/or interactively predict their child-feeding and pursuit of child-related obesity risk information. Higher risk perceptions were associated with healthier feeding intentions and more information seeking. More incremental (malleable) beliefs predicted healthier fe…
Responsive social support serves important functions in clinical communication
Greater benefit of self-affirmation for prevention-focused individuals prior to threatening health messages
Objective Individuals are often defensive toward health messages that suggest they are putting their health at risk because such messages threaten their self-competence and integrity. Although self-affirmation can facilitate prevention behaviors in response to health messages, effects are variable. We examined whether disease prevention focus might strengthen self-affirmation’s effects in response to disease prevention messages, given that preven…
Investigating the Potential of Inoculation Messages and Self-Affirmation in Reducing the Effects of Health Misinformation
We investigated the effectiveness of inoculation and self-affirmation interventions in neutralizing effects of health misinformation. Women ( N=854) recruited via Prolific were randomly assigned to self-affirm (or not) and read an inoculation (versus control) message detailing five common attributes of misinformation. All participants read an article with misinformation about breast cancer screening and reported their reactions to the article. Th…
Fear increases likelihood of seeking decisional support from others when making decisions involving ambiguity
Individuals often turn to others for decision‐making advice, which has the potential to improve decision‐making outcomes when advice is drawn from a reliable source. Because seeking advice is a kind of information seeking, it is likelier to occur when decisions involve ambiguity or when full information about outcomes is unavailable. We examined whether experimentally induced incidental fear, known to increase information seeking, increased inten…
Evidence that perceptions of and tolerance for medical ambiguity are distinct constructs
BACKGROUND: Medical information is often conflicting and consequently perceived as ambiguous. There are individual differences both in how much people perceive ambiguity and in their tolerance for such ambiguity. Little is known about how these constructs are related to each other and with other beliefs. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between (a) perceived medical ambiguity, (b) tolerance for medical ambiguity and (c) their associations wi…
Preliminary evidence for differential effects of integral and incidental emotions on risk perception and behavioral intentions
Judgment and decision‐making research often examines effects of emotion unrelated (i.e., incidental) to the decision when research questions center on emotion related (i.e., integral) to the decision, with a theory‐based assumption that the two types of emotion have equivalent influence. Experimentally targeting incidental emotion can overcome practical and ethical challenges that preclude manipulating integral emotion, particularly in medical co…
Benefits of daily support visibility versus invisibility across the adult life span
Amid growing disagreement about the benefits of visible and invisible support, we tested daily associations among support visibility and changes in individual and relational well-being in young adult newlyweds (Study 1) and older married couples (Study 2). To extend past research, we assessed emotional and practical support visibility in 3 contexts (context-general, stress-related, and goal-related) each day. In both samples, reporting context-ge…
Optimizing the utility of the ARC Framework
This commentary concerns the Affect Regulation in Cancer Framework, which synthesizes theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence on emotion regulation and coping to posit that flexible use of a suite of strategies can result in optimal Affect Regulation in Cancer. The framework raises a number of questions that should be answered for it to reach its full potential. Here, I extend this framework by suggesting (1) outcomes to define adaptive r…
Roles of attitudes and injunctive norms in decisional conflict and disclosure following receipt of genome sequencing results
Cigarette tax rates, behavioral disengagement, and quit ratios among daily smokers
Goal conflict when making decisions for others
Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being
Emerging evidence suggests that individuals spontaneously self-affirm, by reflecting on values and strengths, in response to daily threats. We examined the prevalence and demographic and well-being correlates of spontaneous self-affirmation in the general population. Participants ( n = 3185) completed the cross-sectional, nationally representative 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 4, Cycle 3), and answered questions about spon…
Emotion suppression, emotional eating, and eating behavior among parent–adolescent dyads
Emotion suppression may lead to ironic increases in emotional experience. More important, suppression is a transactional process, creating stress and disrupting interactions for the suppressor and those in social interactions with individuals who are suppressing emotion. However, no research has examined the behavioral consequences of emotion suppression in close relationships. We examine the possibility that emotion suppression will predict eati…
Internal resources among informal caregivers
Interest in and reactions to genetic risk information
Developing a scale to assess health regulatory focus
Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being
Emerging evidence suggests that individuals spontaneously self-affirm, by reflecting on values and strengths, in response to daily threats. We examined the prevalence and demographic and well-being correlates of spontaneous self-affirmation in the general population. Participants ( n = 3185) completed the cross-sectional, nationally representative 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 4, Cycle 3), and answered questions about spon…
Feelings of vulnerability in response to threatening messages
Developing a scale to assess health regulatory focus
Role of Neuroticism and Coping Strategies in Psychological Reactions to a Racist Incident Among African American University Students
A total of 562 African American university students provided data on individual differences in neuroticism; coping with a recent experience being the target of prejudice, racism, and/or discrimination; and psychological reactions to the incident. Higher negative affect, lower positive affect, more intrusive thoughts about the incident, and lack of forgiveness for the perpetrator were used to index distress in response to the racist incident. Usin…
Preliminary evidence for differential effects of integral and incidental emotions on risk perception and behavioral intentions
Judgment and decision‐making research often examines effects of emotion unrelated (i.e., incidental) to the decision when research questions center on emotion related (i.e., integral) to the decision, with a theory‐based assumption that the two types of emotion have equivalent influence. Experimentally targeting incidental emotion can overcome practical and ethical challenges that preclude manipulating integral emotion, particularly in medical co…
Fear increases likelihood of seeking decisional support from others when making decisions involving ambiguity
Individuals often turn to others for decision‐making advice, which has the potential to improve decision‐making outcomes when advice is drawn from a reliable source. Because seeking advice is a kind of information seeking, it is likelier to occur when decisions involve ambiguity or when full information about outcomes is unavailable. We examined whether experimentally induced incidental fear, known to increase information seeking, increased inten…
Benefits of daily support visibility versus invisibility across the adult life span
Amid growing disagreement about the benefits of visible and invisible support, we tested daily associations among support visibility and changes in individual and relational well-being in young adult newlyweds (Study 1) and older married couples (Study 2). To extend past research, we assessed emotional and practical support visibility in 3 contexts (context-general, stress-related, and goal-related) each day. In both samples, reporting context-ge…
Interest in and reactions to genetic risk information
Smoke-free air laws and quit attempts
Understanding responses to different types of conflicting information about cancer prevention
Revisiting the Effects of Anger on Risk‐Taking
That anger elicited in one situation can carry over to drive risky behavior in another situation has been described since the days of Aristotle. The present studies examine the mechanisms through which and the conditions under which such behavior occurs. Across three experiments, as well as a meta‐analytic synthesis of the data, results reveal that incidental anger is significantly more likely to drive risky decision making among males than among…
Investigating the Potential of Inoculation Messages and Self-Affirmation in Reducing the Effects of Health Misinformation
We investigated the effectiveness of inoculation and self-affirmation interventions in neutralizing effects of health misinformation. Women ( N=854) recruited via Prolific were randomly assigned to self-affirm (or not) and read an inoculation (versus control) message detailing five common attributes of misinformation. All participants read an article with misinformation about breast cancer screening and reported their reactions to the article. Th…
Reasons for ART non-adherence in the Deep South
HIV prevalence in the American Deep South has reached crisis proportions and greater numbers of patients are enrolling in clinical care and beginning antiretroviral therapy (ART). In order to gain maximum benefit from ART, patients must sustain high levels of adherence to demanding regimens over extended periods of time. Many patients are unable to maintain high rates of adherence and may need assistance to do so, which may be based upon an under…
The idiographic study of inconsistent condom use behavior of persons living with HIV
A pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility of using, in a multiply disadvantaged population, an electronic daily diary to test hypotheses linking affective states to variability in psychosocial determinants of condom use. Twenty-one mostly non-Caucasian individuals reporting profound economic disadvantage, heavy alcohol use and HIV infection completed a 5-7 minute interactive voice response (IVR) telephone-based survey daily for three …
A Daily Process Investigation of Alcohol-involved Sexual Risk Behavior Among Economically Disadvantaged Problem Drinkers Living with HIV/Aids
Information–motivation–behavioral skills barriers associated with intentional versus unintentional ARV non-adherence behavior among HIV+ patients in clinical care
Since the arrival of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, HIV has become better characterized as a chronic disease rather than a terminal illness, depending in part on one's ability to maintain relatively high levels of adherence. Despite research concerning barriers and facilitators of ARV adherence behavior, relatively little is known about specific challenges faced by HIV-positive persons who report "taking a break" from their ARV medications. The pr…
Toward an information–motivation–behavioral skills model of microbicide adherence in clinical trials
Unless optimal adherence in microbicide clinical trials is ensured, an efficacious microbicide may be rejected after trial completion, or development of a promising microbicide may be stopped, because low adherence rates create the illusion of poor efficacy. We provide a framework with which to conceptualize and improve microbicide adherence in clinical trials, supported by a critical review of the empirical literature. The information-motivation…
Feelings of vulnerability in response to threatening messages
Effects of Self-Affirmation on Implementation Intentions and the Moderating Role of Affect
Self-affirmation may offset defensiveness to threatening messages, increase intentions to engage in protective behaviors, and facilitate actual change. Relatively little is known about the conditions under which self-affirmation is most beneficial. The authors examined whether self-affirmation facilitates the forming of implementation intentions–plans to engage in specific steps that facilitate behavior change—and whether effects differ by affect…
Physicians’ attitudes about communicating and managing scientific uncertainty differ by perceived ambiguity aversion of their patients
Background Medical interventions are often characterized by substantial scientific uncertainty regarding their benefits and harms. Physicians must communicate to their patients as part of the process of shared decision making, yet they may not always communicate scientific uncertainty for several reasons. One suggested by past research is individual differences in physicians’ tolerance of uncertainty. Relatedly, an unexplored explanation is physi…
Role of Neuroticism and Coping Strategies in Psychological Reactions to a Racist Incident Among African American University Students
A total of 562 African American university students provided data on individual differences in neuroticism; coping with a recent experience being the target of prejudice, racism, and/or discrimination; and psychological reactions to the incident. Higher negative affect, lower positive affect, more intrusive thoughts about the incident, and lack of forgiveness for the perpetrator were used to index distress in response to the racist incident. Usin…
General and specific cancer risk perceptions
Understanding how people construe and act upon cancer risk is important for efforts to target risk-increasing health behaviors. Importantly, research participants are often asked to estimate their risk for cancer (in general), which could mask the fact that cancer represents a range of diseases, and that different cancer types can have distinct risk factors. It is unclear whether individuals perceive general cancer risk as being comprised of an a…
Smoke-free air laws and quit attempts
The Tripartite Model of Risk Perception (TRIRISK)
BACKGROUND: Although risk perception is a key predictor in health behavior theories, current conceptions of risk comprise only one (deliberative) or two (deliberative vs. affective/experiential) dimensions. PURPOSE: This research tested a tripartite model that distinguishes among deliberative, affective, and experiential components of risk perception. METHOD: In two studies, and in relation to three common diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabete…
Extending emotion and decision-making beyond the laboratory
Although laboratory-based research on emotion and decision-making holds the distinct advantage of rigorous experimental control conditions that allow causal inferences, the question of how findings in a laboratory generalize to real-world settings remains. Identifying ecologically valid, real-world opportunities to extend laboratory findings is a valuable means of advancing this field. Palliative care-or care intended to provide relief from serio…
The Effect of Emotion on Visual Attention to Information and Decision Making in the Context of Informed Consent Process for Clinical Trials
The aim of this study was to examine the influence of emotion on visual information processing and decision making in the context of informed consent. Researchers are ethically obligated to ensure informed consent in clinical trials; however, many volunteers have unrealistic expectations about the value of an experimental therapy. Moreover, suboptimal participation rates for clinical trials may be partially attributable to perceptions that ethica…
Revisiting the Effects of Anger on Risk‐Taking
That anger elicited in one situation can carry over to drive risky behavior in another situation has been described since the days of Aristotle. The present studies examine the mechanisms through which and the conditions under which such behavior occurs. Across three experiments, as well as a meta‐analytic synthesis of the data, results reveal that incidental anger is significantly more likely to drive risky decision making among males than among…
Emotion suppression, emotional eating, and eating behavior among parent–adolescent dyads
Emotion suppression may lead to ironic increases in emotional experience. More important, suppression is a transactional process, creating stress and disrupting interactions for the suppressor and those in social interactions with individuals who are suppressing emotion. However, no research has examined the behavioral consequences of emotion suppression in close relationships. We examine the possibility that emotion suppression will predict eati…
Internal resources among informal caregivers
Interest in and reactions to genetic risk information
Developing a scale to assess health regulatory focus
Cigarette tax rates, behavioral disengagement, and quit ratios among daily smokers
Goal conflict when making decisions for others
Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being
Emerging evidence suggests that individuals spontaneously self-affirm, by reflecting on values and strengths, in response to daily threats. We examined the prevalence and demographic and well-being correlates of spontaneous self-affirmation in the general population. Participants ( n = 3185) completed the cross-sectional, nationally representative 2013 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 4, Cycle 3), and answered questions about spon…
Evidence that perceptions of and tolerance for medical ambiguity are distinct constructs
BACKGROUND: Medical information is often conflicting and consequently perceived as ambiguous. There are individual differences both in how much people perceive ambiguity and in their tolerance for such ambiguity. Little is known about how these constructs are related to each other and with other beliefs. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between (a) perceived medical ambiguity, (b) tolerance for medical ambiguity and (c) their associations wi…
Preliminary evidence for differential effects of integral and incidental emotions on risk perception and behavioral intentions
Judgment and decision‐making research often examines effects of emotion unrelated (i.e., incidental) to the decision when research questions center on emotion related (i.e., integral) to the decision, with a theory‐based assumption that the two types of emotion have equivalent influence. Experimentally targeting incidental emotion can overcome practical and ethical challenges that preclude manipulating integral emotion, particularly in medical co…
Benefits of daily support visibility versus invisibility across the adult life span
Amid growing disagreement about the benefits of visible and invisible support, we tested daily associations among support visibility and changes in individual and relational well-being in young adult newlyweds (Study 1) and older married couples (Study 2). To extend past research, we assessed emotional and practical support visibility in 3 contexts (context-general, stress-related, and goal-related) each day. In both samples, reporting context-ge…
Psychology (35 obras) · Medicine (31 obras) · Social Psychology (29 obras) · Social Psychology (19 obras) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (15 obras) · Psychiatry (11 obras) · Environmental health (10 obras) · Perception (10 obras) · Clinical Psychology (9 obras) · Developmental psychology (8 obras)