Does exposure to conflicting health information in people’s routine interactions with the broader information environment threaten the success of message-based population-level public health strategies? And, if so, who is most susceptible to the effects of such exposure?
Many population-level public health strategies rely on messaging to promote cancer prevention and control. These strategies do not take place in a vacuum; rather, they occur in the context of a broader public information environment, which is increasingly characterized by conflicting and often controversial health information. To gain more insight on this trend, the National Institutes of Health by way of the National Cancer Institute awarded Associate Professor Rebekah Nagler a $356,125 grant (1R21CA218054-01A1) for her project, “Effects of Prior Exposure to Conflicting Health Information on Responses to Subsequent Unrelated Health Messages.”
Through her research, Nagler will evaluate whether prior exposure to conflicting health information produces “carryover effects” by adversely influencing responses to subsequent unrelated and uncontested health messages. She also will identify whether there are individual-level differences in how exposure to conflict affects such responses.
An online survey-based experiment using a national sample of U.S. adults will be conducted. At two time points across a three-week period, participants will be exposed to real news stories about several health topics, such as nutrition, mammography or e-cigarettes. Participants will be randomized to one of two treatment groups that differ only in the amount of conflict presented in these news stories (high conflict, no conflict). After the three-week period, all participants will be exposed to unrelated messages about behaviors for which there is scientific consensus, such as skin cancer prevention.
To assess carryover effects, cognitive, affective, and behavioral intentional responses to these unrelated health messages will be measured. These messages are expected to be less effective among those who were randomized to receive conflicting health information. Individual-level differences in the pattern of these responses are also expected, with carryover effects of exposure to conflict being more pronounced among certain groups, like those with greater trust in media sources or those of lower socioeconomic position. Using an innovative research design, the proposed project will directly assess whether the broader information environment, with its ubiquitous conflicting health messages, undermines the success of message-based population-level public health strategies.