Comunicazione mass-mediale sulla salute e contesti sociali di scambio: quale intreccio?

Mass media health communication and the context of social exchanges: what interlacement? - In this paper we discuss the results of a research program that was aimed at analysing of the situational context in which the interpersonal exchange has place the role in mediating the passage from the reception to the "use" of mass-media preventive information. The study consisted in 32 focus groups with young people (18-25 years old), on different topics related to health risks (HIV/AIDS, Alcool, smoking, light drugs), in 4 different situational contexts (face-to-face; on-line forum; on-line chat; on-line forum+chat). The study main evidences show that the different contexts of the exchange specifically influence the interpersonal "re-use" of mass-media preventive information. In particular the forum+chat seems to be the context that best orients the preventive message elaboration in the sense of a personal revision of one own’s unsafe practices. Key words: health communication; social exchange; context of the exchange; Internet; qualitative research; focus group Parole chiave: comunicazione alla salute; scambio sociale; contesto di scambio; Internet; ricerca qualitativa; focus group