TY - JOUR
T1 - What Is the Story with Narratives? How Using Narratives in Journalism Changes Health Behavior
AU - Shaffer, Victoria A.
AU - Scherer, Laura D.
AU - Focella, Elizabeth S.
AU - Hinnant, Amanda
AU - Len-Ríos, María E.
AU - Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2018/9/2
Y1 - 2018/9/2
N2 - Health journalists frequently use narratives to bring news stories to life, with little understanding about how this influences the health behavior of readers. This study was designed to examine the effect of a New York Times health news article about a person who developed a life-threatening illness after using ibuprofen on readers’ future use of ibuprofen. We recruited an Internet sample (N = 405) to participate in a longitudinal study examining ibuprofen use before, immediately following, and two weeks after reading the story. Ibuprofen use two-weeks after reading the heath news article was significantly lower than baseline use. Furthermore, intentions to use ibuprofen were also significantly reduced suggesting that the observed behavior change may persist beyond the two-week period studied. Health journalists should be cautious in their use of stories about health outcomes, particularly when those stories deviate from data about objective risks.
AB - Health journalists frequently use narratives to bring news stories to life, with little understanding about how this influences the health behavior of readers. This study was designed to examine the effect of a New York Times health news article about a person who developed a life-threatening illness after using ibuprofen on readers’ future use of ibuprofen. We recruited an Internet sample (N = 405) to participate in a longitudinal study examining ibuprofen use before, immediately following, and two weeks after reading the story. Ibuprofen use two-weeks after reading the heath news article was significantly lower than baseline use. Furthermore, intentions to use ibuprofen were also significantly reduced suggesting that the observed behavior change may persist beyond the two-week period studied. Health journalists should be cautious in their use of stories about health outcomes, particularly when those stories deviate from data about objective risks.
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U2 - 10.1080/10410236.2017.1333562
DO - 10.1080/10410236.2017.1333562
M3 - Article
C2 - 28657356
AN - SCOPUS:85021454497
SN - 1041-0236
VL - 33
SP - 1151
EP - 1157
JO - Health communication
JF - Health communication
IS - 9
ER -