Sender Gender Influences Emoji Interpretation in Text Messages.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Butterworth SE
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6459937 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:In this work, we describe the first modular, and programmable platform capable of transmitting a text message using chemical signalling - a method also known as molecular communication. This form of communication is attractive for applications where conventional wireless systems perform poorly, from nanotechnology to urban health monitoring. Using examples, we demonstrate the use of our platform as a testbed for molecular communication, and illustrate the features of these communication systems using experiments. By providing a simple and inexpensive means of performing experiments, our system fills an important gap in the molecular communication literature, where much current work is done in simulation with simplified system models. A key finding in this paper is that these systems are often nonlinear in practice, whereas current simulations and analysis often assume that the system is linear. However, as we show in this work, despite the nonlinearity, reliable communication is still possible. Furthermore, this work motivates future studies on more realistic modelling, analysis, and design of theoretical models and algorithms for these systems.
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Project description:IntroductionMany young adults demonstrate insufficient rates of physical activity (PA) to yield health benefits. The study tested the effectiveness of a text messaging intervention targeting key psychological determinants and PA.MethodsParticipants received either attitude messages, goal priority messages, a combination of these, or generic PA information (control). After confirming that groups were matched at baseline, a 2 (attitude: yes vs. no) by 2 (goal priority: yes vs. no) by 2 (time: immediately post-intervention, four weeks post-intervention) randomized control trial tested main and interactive effects.ResultsResults showed participants that received attitude messages had significantly more positive attitudes, intentions and rates of PA. Mediational analyses showed the influence of attitude messages on PA to be fully mediated through the serial path via attitude and intention. There were no other main or interactive effects.ConclusionThe study provides support for using attitudinal messages delivered via text messaging to influence key psychological determinants and PA.
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Project description:To what extent can simple mental exercises cause shifts in empathic habits? Can we use mobile technology to make people more empathic? It may depend on how empathy is measured. Scholars have identified a number of different facets and correlates of empathy. This study is among the first to take a comprehensive, multidimensional approach to empathy to determine how empathy training could affect these different facets and correlates. In doing so, we can learn more about empathy and its multifaceted nature. Participants (N = 90) were randomly assigned to receive either an empathy-building text message program (Text to Connect) or one of two control conditions (active versus passive). Respondents completed measures of dispositional empathy (i.e. self-perceptions of being an empathic person), affective empathy (i.e. motivations to help, immediate feelings of empathic concern), and prosocial behavior (i.e. self-reports and observer-reports) at baseline, and then again after the 14 day intervention period. We found that empathy-building messages increased affective indicators of empathy and prosocial behaviors, but actually decreased self-perceptions of empathy, relative to control messages. Although the brief text messaging intervention did not consistently impact empathy-related personality traits, it holds promise for the use of mobile technology for changing empathic motivations and behaviors.
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Project description:INTRODUCTION:E-cigarette use among adolescents has dramatically risen since 2011, yet little research has tested e-cigarette harms messages among adolescents. We conducted a pretest-posttest pilot study to examine adolescents' receptivity to e-cigarette health harms messages delivered using text messaging. METHODS:N?=?69 adolescents were enrolled in an 8-day pretest-posttest text messaging study. Participants completed a pretest survey on day one, were texted one of three e-cigarette health harms messages per day on days two through seven, and completed a posttest survey on day eight (88% retention). We assessed message ratings at posttest and knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs about e-cigarette harms at pretest and posttest. RESULTS:Adolescents rated the three messages favorably, with both the chemical and brain messages scoring higher than the nicotine message on fear arousal and perceived message effectiveness. More than one-third of adolescents showed the messages to others and talked to others about the messages. At posttest, knowledge about the harms of e-cigarettes, thinking about the risks of e-cigarettes, and perceived risks of e-cigarettes were all significantly higher compared to pretest (p?<?.05). Participants largely adhered to the text messaging protocol and found the study highly acceptable. CONCLUSIONS:This pilot study suggests that adolescents are receptive to e-cigarette health harms messages and that delivering such messages using text messaging is feasible and acceptable. Future research should systematically develop and test a broad set of e-cigarette health harms messages and examine their impact in a randomized controlled trial.
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Project description:Face-to-face communication has several sources of contextual information that enables language comprehension. This information is used, for instance, to perceive mood of interlocutors, clarifying ambiguous messages. However, these contextual cues are absent in text-based communication. Emoticons have been proposed as cues used to stress the emotional intentions on this channel of communication. Most studies have suggested that their role is to contribute to a more accurate perception of emotions. Nevertheless, it is not clear if their influence on disambiguation is independent of their emotional valence and its interaction with text message valence. In the present study, we designed an emotional congruence paradigm, where participants read a set of messages composed by a positive or negative emotional situation sentence followed by a positive or negative emoticon. Participants were instructed to indicate if the sender was in a good or bad mood. With the aim of analyzing the disambiguation process and observing if the role of the emoticons in disambiguation is different according their valence, we measure the rate of responses of perceived mood and the reaction times (RTs) for each condition. Our results showed that the perceived mood in ambiguous messages tends to be more negative regardless of emotion valence. Nonetheless, we observed that this tendency was not the same for positive and negative emoticons. Specifically, negative mood perception was higher for incongruent positive emoticons. On the other hand, RTs for positive emoticons were faster than for the negative ones. Responses for incongruent messages were slower than for the congruent ones. However, the incongruent condition showed different RTs depending on the emoticons' valence. In the incongruent condition, responses for negative emoticons was the slowest. Results are discussed taking into account previous observations about the potential role of emoticons in mood perception and cognitive processing. We concluded that the role of emoticons in disambiguation and mood perception is due to the interaction of emoticon valence with the entire message.
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Project description:Anxiety is associated with memory biases when the initial interpretation of the event is taken into account. This experiment examined whether modification of interpretive bias retroactively affects memory for prior events and their initial interpretation. Before training, participants imagined themselves in emotionally ambiguous scenarios to which they provided endings that often revealed their interpretations. Then they were trained to resolve the ambiguity in other situations in a consistently positive (n = 37) or negative way (n = 38) before they tried to recall the initial scenarios and endings. Results indicated that memory for the endings was imbued with the emotional tone of the training, whereas memory for the scenarios was unaffected.
| S-EPMC3283455 | biostudies-other
Project description:Depression is projected to be the primary cause of disability worldwide by 2030. In a recent survey, the most commonly cited unmet need among 42.4% of depressed Albertans was the lack of sufficient, accessible, and affordable counselling. Our aim was to test the efficacy of a supportive text messaging mobile health intervention in improving treatment outcomes in depressed patients.We performed a single-rater-blinded randomized trial involving 73 patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Patients in the intervention group (n = 35) received twice-daily supportive text messages for 3 months while those in the control group (n = 38) received a single text message every fortnight thanking them for participating in the study. The primary outcome of this study was: "Mean changes in the BDI scores from baseline".After adjusting for baseline BDI scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean BDI scores between the intervention and control groups: (20.8 (SD = 11.7) vs. 24.9 (SD = 11.5), F (1, 60) = 4.83, p = 0.03, ?p2 = 0.07). The mean difference in the BDI scores change was significant with an effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.67. Furthermore, after adjusting for baseline scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean self-rated VAS scores (EQ-5D-5 L scale) between the intervention and control groups, 65.7 (SD = 15.3) vs. 57.4 (SD = 22.9), F (1, 60) =4.16, p = 0.05, ?p2 = 0.065. The mean difference in change mean self-rated VAS scores was also statistically significant with an effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.51.Our findings suggest that supportive text messages are a potentially useful psychological intervention for depression, especially in underserved populations. Further studies are needed to explore the implications of our findings in larger clinical samples.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02327858 . Registered 24 December 2014.
| S-EPMC5541655 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPrevious studies have reported the inconsistent effectiveness of text messaging (short message service, SMS) for improving health outcomes, but few have examined to what degree the quality, or "fidelity," of implementation may explain study results.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the fidelity of a one-time text messaging (SMS) intervention to promote the uptake of tuberculosis evaluation services among household contacts of index patients with tuberculosis.MethodsFrom February to June 2017, we nested a process evaluation of text message (SMS) delivery within the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial of tuberculosis contact investigation in Kampala, Uganda. Because mobile service providers in Uganda do not provide delivery confirmations, we asked household tuberculosis contacts to confirm the receipt of a one-time tuberculosis-related text message (SMS) by sending a text message (SMS) reply through a toll-free "short code." Two weeks later, a research officer followed up by telephone to confirm the receipt of the one-time text message (SMS) and administer a survey. We considered participants lost to follow-up after 3 unsuccessful call attempts on 3 separate days over a 1-week period.ResultsOf 206 consecutive household contacts, 119 had a text message (SMS) initiated from the server. While 33% (39/119) were children aged 5-14 years, including 20% (24/119) girls and 13% (15/119) boys, 18 % (21/119) were adolescents or young adults, including 12% (14/119) young women and 6% (7/119) young men. 50% (59/119) were adults, including 26% (31/119) women and 24% (28/119) men. Of 107 (90%) participants for whom we could ascertain text message (SMS) receipt status, 67% (72/107) confirmed text message (SMS) receipt, including 22% (24/107) by reply text message (SMS) and 45% (48/107) during the follow-up telephone survey. No significant clinical or demographic differences were observed between those who did and did not report receiving the text message (SMS). Furthermore, 52% (56/107) reported ever reading the SMS. The cumulative likelihood of a text message (SMS) reaching its target and being read and retained by a participant was 19%.ConclusionsThe fidelity of a one-time text message (SMS) intervention to increase the uptake of household tuberculosis contact investigation and linkage to care was extremely low, a fact only discoverable through detailed process evaluation. This study suggests the need for systematic process monitoring and reporting of implementation fidelity in both research studies and programmatic interventions using mobile communications to improve health.
| S-EPMC6280036 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This article presents analyses of data from a pilot study in Nepal that was designed to provide an initial examination of the errors and costs associated with an innovative methodology for survey data collection. We embedded a randomized experiment within a long-standing panel survey, collecting data on a small number of items with varying sensitivity from a probability sample of 450 young Nepalese adults. Survey items ranged from simple demographics to indicators of substance abuse and mental health problems. Sampled adults were randomly assigned to one of three different modes of data collection: 1) a standard one-time telephone interview, 2) a "single sitting" back-and-forth interview with an interviewer using text messaging, and 3) an interview using text messages within a modular design framework (which generally involves breaking the survey response task into distinct parts over a short period of time). Respondents in the modular group were asked to respond (via text message exchanges with an interviewer) to only one question on a given day, rather than complete the entire survey. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses demonstrate that the two text messaging modes increased the probability of disclosing sensitive information relative to the telephone mode, and that respondents in the modular design group, while responding less frequently, found the survey to be significantly easier. Further, those who responded in the modular group were not unique in terms of available covariates, suggesting that the reduced item response rates only introduced limited nonresponse bias. Future research should consider enhancing this methodology, applying it with other modes of data collection (e. g., web surveys), and continuously evaluating its effectiveness from a total survey error perspective.
| S-EPMC4551499 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSedentary behavior (SB) has been linked to many health problems such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Increasing the length and frequency of breaks from sitting and increasing the time spent standing and engaged in light and moderate physical activity are ways to decrease SB. Text message-based interventions have succeeded in aiding smoking cessation and increase both physical activity and healthy eating, but they have not been shown to reduce SB.ObjectiveThe primary purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effectiveness of a text message-based intervention in increasing nonsedentary behaviors in university students. A secondary purpose was to (1) determine whether the intervention could enhance self-efficacy beliefs for decreasing SB and (2) whether these efficacious beliefs could predict actual SB.MethodsEighty-two university students were recruited via mass emails and randomized into intervention (SB-related text messages) or control (text messages unrelated to SB) groups. Participants received daily text messages scheduled by the researcher encouraging breaks from sitting, standing, light- and moderate-intensity physical activity (PA). They then reported various SBs via Web-based questionnaires at four time points (baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks). Self-efficacious beliefs toward taking breaks from sitting and decreasing the amount of time spent sitting were assessed at the same time points.ResultsLast observation carried forward (LOCF) method was used for incomplete data as an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis (intervention group n=15, control group n=11). Small-to-moderate effects favoring the text intervention group were found at 6 weeks for break frequency -14.64 minutes, break length +.59 minutes, standing +24.30 min/day, light-intensity +74.34 min/day, and moderate-intensity + 9.97 min/day PA. Only light-intensity PA approached significance (P=.07). Self-efficacy beliefs also favored the text intervention group and reached significance (P=.032) for sitting less. Significant (P<.05) relations were found between the self-efficacy constructs and breaks, standing, and light or moderate PA.ConclusionsText messages have the potential to increase nonsedentary behaviors in university students. These messages can increase self-efficacy beliefs to take more breaks and reduce sitting time. Efficacious beliefs can predict actual SB and to a lesser extent light- and moderate-intensity PA.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02562937; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02562937 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6jVLwXE5M).
| S-EPMC5010648 | biostudies-literature