( se receiving the more neutral message w...)Potential Threats of Bioterrorism,Health

se receiving the more neutral message were considered the “control” group.

Anxiety was evaluated at the state and trait scores of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), while the Noncontingent Outcome Instrument also was used to measure pessimism regarding uncontrollable events, in order to identify the potential confounder of a general pessimistic outlook that could affect the STAI scores.

In addition, knowledge of bioterrorism was measured using a general Knowledge Questionnaire designed specifically for the study. Participants underwent all three components of these measures both before and after reading the randomized messages.

While “state anxiety” pre-intervention scores and pre-scores for “trait anxiety” were similar for both groups, “change-in-state” scores were sharply different. “We saw a statistically significant increase in the ‘state anxiety’ levels for the experimental group and a decrease of similar magnitude for the control group,” says Dr. Cohen. “And while there was negligible change in ‘trait scores’ for the control group, we found a significant increase in anxiety in the experimental group.

“Alarms and warnings are purposely constructed to stimulate an arousal response,” notes Dr. Cohen. “It is not surprising that alarms and warnings about potential dangers in general could also elevate anxiety and stress. Public health messages, like those to encourage quitting smoking or not driving after drinking, take advantage of this likely response in order to promote an aversion response to behaviors considered harmful. While risks and benefits are routinely weighed for medications and other health interventions, health related messages are simply assumed to be harmless. Our findings suggest this is not necessarily so. Therefore all health interventions including warnings about potential threats of bioterrorism should be evaluated by weighing the expected benefits against the potential risk of harm.”

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