Abstract
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) via new digital media has been enriching the forms and modes of human communication. These fast-growing changes have also provided great opportunities for mental health professionals to deliver mental health messages and services more effectively and timely through these new digital media (e.g., mobile apps). Nevertheless, very few research studies have examined the various characteristics of an e-health message on mental health awareness, including the nature of an e-health message, use of emojis in a message, and relevance of a message. The present study conducted an online experimental study with a 2 (Nature of a message: narrative vs non-narrative) × 2 (Use of emojis: with emojis vs without) × 2 (Content of a message: relevance vs non-relevance) factorial design. This study recruited 169 university students with moderate mental health status screened by the 18-item Psychological Well-being Scale. After initial screening, the participants were randomly assigned to one of the eight conditions to read an e-mental health message with different combinations of message characteristics. After reading the e-mental health message, the level of mental health awareness (status, message credibility, and personalization) was measured. The results showed that only the main effect of using emojis in e-health messages was significant for mental health status but not for message awareness. The main effects of using narrative and relevant messages were not significant. All two-way interaction effects and the three-way interaction effect were insignificant. This study provides a better understanding of the use of emojis in e-mental health messages for raising awareness of mental health status. Furthermore, the effects among narrative, emoji, and relevance on the awareness of e-mental health messages need to be further investigated.
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Chan, CK., Chan, K.KW. (2022). Enhancing the Awareness of e-Mental Health Messages: The Effects of Narrative, Emoji, and Relevance. In: Tso, A.W.B., Chan, A.Ck., Chan, W.W.L., Sidorko, P.E., Ma, W.W.K. (eds) Digital Communication and Learning. Educational Communications and Technology Yearbook. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8329-9_6
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