ArticleAppetite2018
An experiment assessing effects of personalized feedback about genetic susceptibility to obesity on attitudes towards diet and exercise.
Article in Appetite, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Are There Any Effective Behavior Change Strategies for Communicating Genetic Risk in Obesity Prevention and Body Weight Reduction Interventions?Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Experimentally exploring the potential behavioral effects of personalized genetic information about marijuana and schizophrenia risk.Journal of psychiatric research · 2021Trial
- From mRNA stabilisation to mirror life: Biological orthogonality, incremental risk, and anticipatory governance.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Using the stages of change model to develop an understanding of caregiver intent for family behavior change following pediatric testing for genetic obesity: A qualitative analysis.Obesity pillars · 2025Article
- The Promise and Challenges of Integrating Biological and Prevention Sciences: A Community-Engaged Model for the Next Generation of Translational Research.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2024Article
- Screening embryos for polygenic disease risk: a review of epidemiological, clinical, and ethical considerations.Human reproduction update · 2024Review
- Attitudes, weight stigma and misperceptions of weight loss strategies among patients living with obesity in the Lazio Region, Italy.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- The undue influence of genetic information on senior medical students' treatment decisions.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- The symptom discounting effect: what to do when negative genetic test results become risk factors for alcohol use disorder.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Genetic variation in satiety signaling and hypothalamic inflammation: merging fields for the study of obesity.The Journal of nutritional biochemistry · 2022Review
- A scoping review of social and behavioral science research to translate genomic discoveries into population health impact.Translational behavioral medicine · 2021Article
- Learning one's genetic risk changes physiology independent of actual genetic risk.Nature human behaviour · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
As increasing attention is paid to possible genetic influences on susceptibility to obesity, recent studies have examined how genetic attributions can impact laypeople's weight-related attitudes and eating behavior. Little consideration, however, has been devoted to understanding the potential effects of learning that one does not have a genetic predisposition to obesity. The present study investigated the possibility that such feedback might bring about negative consequences by making people feel invulnerable to weight gain, which is termed a genetic invincibility effect. After conducting a saliva test disguised as genetic screening, participants were randomly assigned to be told that there was either a very high or very low chance that they carried genes known to increase one's risk of developing obesity. Participants who were told that they were not genetically predisposed to obesity judged the efficacy of healthy diet and exercise habits to be significantly lower than did those who were told that they were genetically predisposed and those who did not receive any genetic feedback. When prompted to select a meal from a menu of options, participants who were told that they were not genetically predisposed to obesity were also more likely than others to select unhealthy foods. These findings demonstrate the existence of a genetic invincibility effect, suggesting that personalized feedback indicating the absence of a genetic liability could have negative psychological consequences with substantial health-related implications.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.