RISK PERCEPTION OF CONTRACTING SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS: TESTING THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT RISK-COMMUNICATION MESSAGES

Introduction: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are among the most conventional infectious in young adults (WHO, 2019) and their continuous increase is the sign of a drop of the risk perception (RP) of contracting STIs. (Giuliani, 2017). In order to address this growing issue, the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently developing a preventive evidence-based intervention (WHO, 2018) that aims, by 2030, to end the STIs epidemic as a major public health concern. This study examined before whether a match between the orientation of an individual (promotion vs. prevention) and the type of communication message (fit vs. unfit) leads to higher or lower RP of STIs. The study finally investigated what kind of message-framing (prevention vs. promotion) is more persuasive in increasing STIs RP. Method: The study employed a 2 (promotion vs. prevention) x 2 (fit vs. unfit) between-subjects factorial design. A sample of 547 Italian young adults (425 females and 122 males) participated in the compilation of an anonymous questionnaire in which, randomly, they were assigned to the promotion or prevention condition: the participants read a flyer containing a message frame that fitted or did not fit their previous condition (promotion vs. prevention). Subsequently, participants were asked to answer questions about their RP of contracting STIs. Results: The results of the study revealed no statistically significant difference in the persuasive efficacy between fit vs. unfit conditions on the RP of STIs [F(3 499)=1.61, p=.18, η2p=.010]. However, the prevention group showed a greater RP of contracting STIs (M=1.71, SD=.85) than the promotion one (M=1.58, SD=.73). Conclusions: The findings would suggest that an effective public sexual health campaign should rely on prevention-frame messages in motivating people to engage in healthy sexual behaviors.