The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study
Abstract Background Young women are overrepresented in sensationalist media stories about breast cancer, which has been associated with heightened breast cancer concern within this population. Recent research has also revealed that young women show significant misconceptions about breast cancer, and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Women's Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03751-x |
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| author | Aldo Aguirre-Camacho Amalie Akerø Hylland Valeria Moriconi Alberto Bellido-Esteban Judit Tirado-Muñoz |
| author_facet | Aldo Aguirre-Camacho Amalie Akerø Hylland Valeria Moriconi Alberto Bellido-Esteban Judit Tirado-Muñoz |
| author_sort | Aldo Aguirre-Camacho |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Young women are overrepresented in sensationalist media stories about breast cancer, which has been associated with heightened breast cancer concern within this population. Recent research has also revealed that young women show significant misconceptions about breast cancer, and that these seem to have been increasing over the last two decades. Accordingly, the present study sought to gather experimental evidence on the impact of media messages on negative affect, fear of breast cancer, fatalism, and misconceptions about breast cancer among young women. Methods 186 females aged 18 to 40 were randomly allocated into one of three experimental conditions, designed to recreate the nature of breast cancer information typically presented in government health websites (i.e. objective information, condition 1) and women’s magazines (i.e. sensationalist information); as part of the sensationalist information, participants were either exposed to a photograph of a young woman (i.e. condition 2) or a middle-aged woman (i.e. condition 3) featured as a cancer patient. Results Participants exposed to sensationalist information (i.e. conditions 2 and 3) reported significantly higher levels of negative affect, fear of breast cancer, and fatalism than participants exposed to objective information, after statistically adjusting for relevant covariates. No statistically significant differences were observed between participants exposed to sensationalist information featuring women of different ages. Overall, participants held important misconceptions about breast cancer. First, they greatly overestimated the risk of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis, especially participants exposed to sensationalist information featuring a young woman. Second, they also believed that breast cancer was most often diagnosed among women just under 50 years of age; participants exposed to sensationalist information (i.e. conditions 2 and 3) estimated the age at diagnosis as significantly lower than those exposed to objective information. Conclusions This study provides experimental evidence that sensationalist media increases concern and contributes to misconceptions about breast cancer. Concern and misconceptions may by further exacerbated when sensationalist messages feature a young woman as a cancer patient, thus offering a distorted view of the women typically diagnosed with breast cancer. Overall, participants revealed important misconceptions about breast cancer, which has significant implications for preventive behaviors and health communication. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-92ea557b6d0c480e9b977f44d95b8062 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1472-6874 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Women's Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-92ea557b6d0c480e9b977f44d95b80622025-08-20T03:09:19ZengBMCBMC Women's Health1472-68742025-05-0125111210.1186/s12905-025-03751-xThe impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental studyAldo Aguirre-Camacho0Amalie Akerø Hylland1Valeria Moriconi2Alberto Bellido-Esteban3Judit Tirado-Muñoz4School of Biomedical Sciences, Universidad Europea de MadridSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Universidad Europea de MadridSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Universidad Europea de MadridSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Universidad Europea de MadridSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Universidad Europea de MadridAbstract Background Young women are overrepresented in sensationalist media stories about breast cancer, which has been associated with heightened breast cancer concern within this population. Recent research has also revealed that young women show significant misconceptions about breast cancer, and that these seem to have been increasing over the last two decades. Accordingly, the present study sought to gather experimental evidence on the impact of media messages on negative affect, fear of breast cancer, fatalism, and misconceptions about breast cancer among young women. Methods 186 females aged 18 to 40 were randomly allocated into one of three experimental conditions, designed to recreate the nature of breast cancer information typically presented in government health websites (i.e. objective information, condition 1) and women’s magazines (i.e. sensationalist information); as part of the sensationalist information, participants were either exposed to a photograph of a young woman (i.e. condition 2) or a middle-aged woman (i.e. condition 3) featured as a cancer patient. Results Participants exposed to sensationalist information (i.e. conditions 2 and 3) reported significantly higher levels of negative affect, fear of breast cancer, and fatalism than participants exposed to objective information, after statistically adjusting for relevant covariates. No statistically significant differences were observed between participants exposed to sensationalist information featuring women of different ages. Overall, participants held important misconceptions about breast cancer. First, they greatly overestimated the risk of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis, especially participants exposed to sensationalist information featuring a young woman. Second, they also believed that breast cancer was most often diagnosed among women just under 50 years of age; participants exposed to sensationalist information (i.e. conditions 2 and 3) estimated the age at diagnosis as significantly lower than those exposed to objective information. Conclusions This study provides experimental evidence that sensationalist media increases concern and contributes to misconceptions about breast cancer. Concern and misconceptions may by further exacerbated when sensationalist messages feature a young woman as a cancer patient, thus offering a distorted view of the women typically diagnosed with breast cancer. Overall, participants revealed important misconceptions about breast cancer, which has significant implications for preventive behaviors and health communication.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03751-xBreast cancerYoung womenFatalismMisconceptionsMedia exposureHealth competence |
| spellingShingle | Aldo Aguirre-Camacho Amalie Akerø Hylland Valeria Moriconi Alberto Bellido-Esteban Judit Tirado-Muñoz The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study BMC Women's Health Breast cancer Young women Fatalism Misconceptions Media exposure Health competence |
| title | The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study |
| title_full | The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study |
| title_fullStr | The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study |
| title_short | The impact of objective/sensationalist media on young women’s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer: an experimental study |
| title_sort | impact of objective sensationalist media on young women s concern and misconceptions about breast cancer an experimental study |
| topic | Breast cancer Young women Fatalism Misconceptions Media exposure Health competence |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03751-x |
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