The current study seeks to understand factors that influence college students' likelihood of participating the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be the Match for bone marrow and stem cell donations. The secondary aim is to compare emotional and rational approaches to encouraging participation in the registry and how these approaches may impact intentions to participate in the NMDP.
This study is a randomized controlled trial that will randomize participants to receive either an emotional appeal about a child with cancer who needs a bone marrow transplant or a rational appeal using data on the racial/ethnic disparities within the transplant registry. Participants will be recruited through the Psychology Subject Pool, which will then link students to the study measures in an online survey. Participants will be asked their age to confirm eligibility to participate (students must be between 18-35), and eligible students will be presented with the consent form through the online survey system. Participants will then be asked to complete measures of demographic information, personality/psychological characteristics, and transplant-related knowledge, intentions, and attitudes. All participants will then be given background information on bone marrow transplants. Randomization: Students will be randomized by sex in the online survey system to the emotional presentation condition or the rational presentation condition. The emotional condition will tell the story of a fictional pediatric patient with cancer who needs a transplant. The rational condition will describe the facts about the need for diversity in the registry. After being presented with the rational or emotional appeal, participants will again be asked about their intentions to register, their motivations for registering, and their mood.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
397
Participants will be presented with a short vignette about a child undergoing cancer treatment and needing a bone marrow transplant in order to survive cancer.
Participants will be presented with data regarding the importance of considering race/ethnicity when looking for a bone marrow transplant donor and the likelihood of finding a match based on the patient's racial/ethnic background.
Rutgers University Camden
Camden, New Jersey, United States
Intention to Register
Participants rated the likelihood of registering on a 1-7 scale with higher scores indicating greater intention to join the registry (better outcome). Participants were asked these questions before (baseline) and after (post-intervention) the experimental manipulation.
Time frame: Baseline and after the experimental manipulation (Post-Intervention)
Mood
Participant mood was assessed on a 1-10 scale, with higher scores indicating a better mood. Participants were asked these questions before (baseline) and after (post-intervention) the experimental manipulation.
Time frame: Baseline and after experimental manipulation (Post-Intervention)
Psychosocial and Demographic Correlates of Intentions to Register--Knowledge
Participants completed a knowledge measure about bone marrow and stem cell transplant donation using true/false statements about transplant donation that was examined as a correlate of their intentions to register with the transplant registry. The measure was scored as a percent of items answered correctly, higher scores indicating better knowledge.
Time frame: Baseline
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