Safe Sex PSAs and Young Adults

There is no denying that we are a nation that is consumed with television. People will center their whole day or their whole week around a scheduled television show or sports game. The abundance of reality television is often overwhelming with each week bringing a show that will select the next chef, designer or pop singer. In fact, the term “reality television” is ironic in that we watch those shows to escape our own realities of paying bills, going to work and managing a household. Now, a recent study shows that this obsession with media could actually be used to help aid young adults into making the smart choice of practicing safe sex.

Recent research performed at the University of Kentucky’s College of Communications and Information Studies has demonstrated that widespread media campaigns can actually help those young adults who are sensation-seekers and more impulsive to not take those same risks in their sexual activities. This project which received its funding from the National Institute of Mental Health was particularly promising given that more recent projects aimed at encouraging the public to make healthy choices did not have as much success. The head of research for this project, Rick Zimmerman, a professor in the UK, stated, “This study’s findings suggest what we have long suspected and what other smaller studies have found: that mass media campaigns crafted from sophisticated design principles can be effective in changing health behaviors, at least in the short-term, and that a reoccurring campaign presence may be necessary to sustain these safe behaviors.” Zimmerman’s co-author in the project, Philip Palmgreen, also a professor in the UK, added, “The implications from this study are valuable for the public health community because it shows that when used properly, media alone can have significant, positive impacts on health-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.”

The project developed a public service announcement for television that encouraged young adults to engage in safe sex. The study which continued for just under two years demonstrated that the campaign was responsible for the increase of contraceptive use (specifically, condoms) amongst those young adults that were considered sexually high-risk. In addition, the campaign also resulted in a movement amongst young adults to use contraceptives in future sexual activities. Data from the analysis of the campaign shows that over 180,000 unprotected sexual acts may have been avoided throughout the population that viewed the PSA compared to what would have happened had the PSA not been shown. The study chose two similar cities that had comparable demographics (Knoxville, Tennessee and Lexington, Kentucky). The campaign was aired for three months in Lexington and was aimed towards those young adults who were considered high risk. Meanwhile, the campaign was not aired in Knoxville. This resulted in a comparison analysis. Stated Zimmerman, “High sensation-seekers and impulsive decision-makers were surveyed for the study because of their proclivity for engaging in risky behaviors. The characteristics of high-sensation-value messages provide practitioners with useful guidelines for developing effective and persuasive health-related messages and placing them in appropriate channels.”