Social processes of participatory engagement effects: a longitudinal examination with a sample of young women in the United States

Participatory interventions enable active user engagement, but research is needed to examine the longitudinal mechanisms through which engagement may generate outcomes. This study investigated the social processes following a web-based participatory media literacy intervention. In this program, young women were asked to create a digital counter message against the media content that promotes risk behavior. The effects of the message production were assessed at an immediate post-test and three- and six-month follow-ups. Message production increased collective efficacy at the immediate post-test, which then stimulated the sharing of self-generated messages and interpersonal conversation at the three-month follow-up. These sharing behaviors, in turn, led to critical media use and a negative attitude toward risk behavior at six months. Collective efficacy and sharing behavior sequentially mediated the effects of message production on outcomes. Theoretical and pragmatic implications are discussed.