Article Date: 27 Nov 2012

 

What types of public messages will most likely deter drug and alcohol abuse or dissuade people from engaging in risky behavior? Negatively framed messages may not be an effective way to reach those most in need of persuasion, suggests a new study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviorsby researchers from Indiana University and Wayne State University. 

“The findings are somewhat ironic because a whole lot of public service announcements say, ‘Drugs are bad for you,’ ‘Just say no,’ or ‘This is your brain on drugs’ with an image of an egg frying,” said principal investigator Joshua Brown, associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in IU Bloomington’s College of Arts and Sciences. “What we’re seeing is that negative messages are not having the same impact on the brain.” Read More…