Health Information, Conflicting and Controversial

Abstract

Today's health information landscape is increasingly characterized by conflicting and often controversial messages about a range of health topics, including nutrition, cancer screening, e‐cigarettes, and medications. Content analyses of media coverage suggest that conflicting health information is widespread, and observational survey studies consistently show that the public notices such content – not only from media sources, but also from interpersonal and clinical information sources. Importantly, experimental and longitudinal survey studies provide evidence of media effects: greater exposure to conflicting health information has been shown to produce adverse affective, cognitive, and behavioral intentional responses, including negative emotional reactions, confusion about and backlash toward health research and recommendations, and lower intentions to adhere to healthy lifestyle recommendations. Moreover, there is even nascent evidence that exposure to conflicting health information reduces receptivity to subsequent unrelated health messages about behaviors for which there is broad scientific consensus, such as fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Taken together, this growing body of research documenting the adverse consequences of exposure to conflicting health information signals the need for continued attention from health communication scholars. Future research should consider how best to intervene and mitigate the negative consequences of such exposure.