Popular Culture and Health Communication across the Lifespan
Using Erikson's theory, health communication targeting age-specific developmental tasks improves audience connection and intended outcomes across the lifespan.
Published Nov 13, 2024Paper ↗
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Abstract
A guiding principle of this chapter is that health communication practitioners who are sensitive to the developmental tasks of the age groups they are targeting will have better success at connecting with audiences in ways that will lead to their intended outcomes. Grounded in Erikson&s;s ( 1959 , 1968 ) theory of psychosocial development, we first provide an overview of the core developmental task of each stage of life. Next, we examine health topics that are relevant to these developmental tasks. To that end, we cover (1) nutrition/childhood obesity and mental health in childhood, (2) unsafe sexual behaviors/teen pregnancy and disordered eating in adolescence, (3) mental health and substance use disorders in emerging adulthood, (4) preventative health behaviors/screenings and healthy role modeling in mid-adulthood, and (5) health information seeking and death and dying in older adulthood. In each section, we examine the research on how these topics are covered in the media and, if relevant, their documented impact, as well as recent examples of how these topics are covered in particular media texts or communication campaigns.