ABSTRACT Uncertainty has long been understood as a defining element of migrant communities’ lives. However, relatively limited research has systematically examined how undocumented immigrants experience and manage chronic uncertainty in their everyday lives. This investigation begins with an understanding that uncertainty is a cognitive construct that is intricately tied to communication processes and decisions. Results from several focus groups of undocumented immigrants – spanning across a range of ages and lived experience (e.g. mothers, DACA students, day laborers, immigrants who had been detained) – reveal seven general categories of chronic uncertainty and five management strategies to help manage those experiences. Those findings help extend the chronic uncertainty theory by situating uncertainty and its management within the context of undocumented life. Implications of these findings for potential community-based interventions and for our understanding of chronic uncertainties and their communicative management are discussed.

ABSTRACT The perceived credibility of researchers has implications for how the public heeds scientific or public health recommendations and for whether individuals engage in research. As scholars have shifted attention to mass communication and computer-mediated communication, they have not continued to interrogate how communities conceptualize and evaluate interpersonal source credibility. We conducted a community-engaged, convergent mixed-methods study to investigate interpersonal source credibility in the context of communication between researchers and research participants. Results indicated that community members conceptualized interpersonal source credibility in ways not currently captured by the predominantly used measure of source credibility (e.g. expertise in understanding the community rather than formal training). Additionally, results revealed logistical issues with the use of the semantic differential scale. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for the conceptualization and measurement of interpersonal source credibility, as well as the practical implications for communication scholars and practitioners conducting research in community.

ABSTRACT This study examined how gain-loss framing, temporal framing, and narrative/non-narrative format influence pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM). Utilizing a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experimental design, 240 participants were recruited via popular Chinese gay social networking platforms to assess messaging effects on PrEP adoption and sexual risk compensation intentions. Results revealed a significant interaction between gain-loss framing and temporal framing on PrEP uptake intention. Notably, gain-framed messages oriented toward the future demonstrated particular persuasiveness. The narrative versus non-narrative format did not exhibit a significant interaction with these framing strategies. Furthermore, our findings showed that PrEP promotion messages did not increase intentions for sexual risk compensation, while individuals’ perceived susceptibility to HIV infection predicted both PrEP uptake and risk compensation intentions. These results provide actionable insights for designing effective, platform-integrated PrEP promotion initiatives for Chinese MSM, addressing applied communication challenges.

ABSTRACT Drawing on qualitative interviews, this study explored how U.S. college students engage in resilience strategies in response to food insecurity. While adaptive resilience strategies provided short-term relief to deal with hunger, such strategies reinforced stigma, led to well-being crises, and perpetuated vicious cycles of framing college food insecurity as an individual failure. When critical consciousness was cultivated, we found that participants shifted to transformative resilience processes aimed at resisting the status quo and building alternative. We argue critical consciousness is a key mechanism that shifts from adaptive to transformative resilience by recognizing food insecurity as a systemic issue shaped by intersectional power relations requiring sustained collective action and institutional change. Transformative resilience strategies included developing agency through food insecurity identity, tapping into larger support networks, and advocating for change on behalf of themselves and others. We offer theoretical insights and practical recommendations for universities to build pathways for transformative resilience.

ABSTRACT This research introduces and validates the Comprehensive Model of Vaccination Intention (CMVI) to offer a holistic understanding of COVID-19 vaccination uptake in New Zealand. The CMVI excels by presenting a highly explanatory model, incorporating trust in the government's vaccination policy along with and a spectrum of social, cognitive, contextual, and affective variables from theories of Interpersonal Behavior, Planned Behavior, and Health Belief Model. A nationally representative sample of 993 participants was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings underscore the positive impact of subjective norms and societal perceptions of vaccination, attitude toward vaccination, trust in government, and vaccination habits on COVID-19 vaccination intention. This study highlights the importance of normalizing vaccination to boost intention and shows how emotions shape attitudes. It also finds that better vaccine accessibility and trust in the government lower perceived costs and raise perceived benefits, improving overall attitude and strengthening vaccination intention.

ABSTRACT This essay explores the conflicting discourses circulated ‘on the ground’ in rural West Bengal regarding blame, water, and health. We take a culture-centered approach that builds on environmental health communication literature through qualitative research with health workers and rural community members living with arsenicosis. Local discourses about structural dilemmas and water as savior/medicine reveal important practical and cultural considerations to water contamination solutions in West Bengal. This study makes three key contributions. First, we illuminate how empowerment discourses reinforce neoliberal and lifestyle theories of health while concealing important realities connected to water contamination and water access. Second, we demonstrate how cultural discourses of water as a savior disrupt Eurocentric health narratives and argue for free, decommodified water. Third, we argue that the narratives based on people’s lived illness experiences could be used to foster solidarity with healthcare workers and should be the basis of practical solutions to create water access.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size AcknowledgmentThe author wishes to thank Shiv Ganesh and Gail Fairhurst for insights on drafts of this essay.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).