Grant Number:	2R01CA096581-06A2 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Arndt, Jamie
Organization:	University Of Missouri-Columbia
Project Title:	Impact of Mortality Concerns on Cancer Risk Behavior
Fiscal Year:	2009

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite vital contributions from psychological research, there remain considerable gaps in understanding why individuals engage in behavior that puts their health at risk. However, much of the research literature reveals that health decisions can be influenced by individuals' motivations pertaining to health as well as their motivations to maintain a sense of self-value. Further insights into effective interventions may be gained by considering factors that influence both sources of motivation. In this light an increasing amount of social psychological research shows that both sets of motives can be triggered by conscious and unconscious thoughts of death. Yet this framework has only recently been applied to behavioral health as research indicates that health threats such as cancer can activate concerns about mortality. The proposed research seeks to refine and extend understanding of the interface between mortality concerns and cancer relevant preventative behavior by investigating three central issues. Aim 1 is to examine the effectiveness of targeting health-oriented motivations in the context of health communications that explicitly activate thoughts of death. Aim 2 will examine the effectiveness of targeting self-oriented motivations in the context of health communications that implicitly activate thoughts of death. Aim 3 tests mechanisms by which these interventions can have enduring effects. The broad intention of the proposed project is thus to continue to reveal how concerns about death influence core psychological processes in a number of cancer-relevant areas, with the ultimate goal of reducing cancer rates by providing translational suggestions for more effective interventions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The broad intention of the proposed project is to continue to reveal how concerns about death influence core psychological processes in cancer-relevant areas, with the ultimate goal of reducing cancer rates by providing translational insights for more effective interventions.




Where Health and Death Intersect: Insights from a Terror Management Health Model.
Authors: Arndt J. , Goldenberg J.L. .
Source: Current Directions In Psychological Science, 2017; 26(2), p. 126-131.
EPub date: 2017-04-06 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 28924332
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Broadening the cancer and cognition landscape: the role of self-regulatory challenges.
Authors: Arndt J. , Das E. , Schagen S.B. , Reid-Arndt S.A. , Cameron L.D. , Ahles T.A. .
Source: Psycho-oncology, 2014 Jan; 23(1), p. 1-8.
PMID: 23839818
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Improving the efficacy of appearance-based sun exposure interventions with the terror management health model.
Authors: Morris K.L. , Cooper D.P. , Goldenberg J.L. , Arndt J. , Gibbons F.X. .
Source: Psychology & Health, 2014; 29(11), p. 1245-64.
PMID: 24811049
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Considering the unspoken: the role of death cognition in quality of life among women with and without breast cancer.
Authors: Cox C.R. , Reid-Arndt S.A. , Arndt J. , Moser R.P. .
Source: Journal Of Psychosocial Oncology, 2012; 30(1), p. 128-39.
PMID: 22269079
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Examining the Terror Management Health Model: The Interactive Effect of Conscious Death Thought and Health-Coping Variables on Decisions in Potentially Fatal Health Domains.
Authors: Cooper D.P. , Goldenberg J.L. , Arndt J. .
Source: Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 2010 Jul; 36(7), p. 937-46.
PMID: 20519572
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Exploring the existential function of religion: the effect of religious fundamentalism and mortality salience on faith-based medical refusals.
Authors: Vess M. , Arndt J. , Cox C.R. , Routledge C. , Goldenberg J.L. .
Source: Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 2009 Aug; 97(2), p. 334-50.
PMID: 19634979
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Mammograms and the management of existential discomfort: threats associated with the physicality of the body and neuroticism.
Authors: Goldenberg J.L. , Routledge C. , Arndt J. .
Source: Psychology & Health, 2009 Jun; 24(5), p. 563-81.
PMID: 20205012
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The implications of death for health: a terror management health model for behavioral health promotion.
Authors: Goldenberg J.L. , Arndt J. .
Source: Psychological Review, 2008 Oct; 115(4), p. 1032-53.
PMID: 18954213
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Uncovering an Existential Barrier to Breast Self-exam Behavior.
Authors: Goldenberg J.L. , Arndt J. , Hart J. , Routledge C. .
Source: Journal Of Experimental Social Psychology, 2008 Mar; 44(2), p. 260-274.
PMID: 19255593
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Cancer and the threat of death: the cognitive dynamics of death-thought suppression and its impact on behavioral health intentions.
Authors: Arndt J. , Cook A. , Goldenberg J.L. , Cox C.R. .
Source: Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 2007 Jan; 92(1), p. 12-29.
PMID: 17201539
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Dying to be thin: the effects of mortality salience and body mass index on restricted eating among women.
Authors: Goldenberg J.L. , Arndt J. , Hart J. , Brown M. .
Source: Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 2005 Oct; 31(10), p. 1400-12.
PMID: 16143671
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A time to tan: proximal and distal effects of mortality salience on sun exposure intentions.
Authors: Routledge C. , Arndt J. , Goldenberg J.L. .
Source: Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 2004 Oct; 30(10), p. 1347-58.
PMID: 15466606
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