Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40190484›Full record

ArticleHuman communication research2025

Media literacy interventions: meta-analytic review of 40 years of research.

HyunYi Cho, Christopher J Carpenter, Wenbo Li

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human communication research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

HyunYi ChoSchool of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0980-0146
Christopher J CarpenterSchool of Communication and Media, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8815-5151
Wenbo LiSchool of Communication and Journalism, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0417-1758

Funding

Media Literacy Intervention for Indoor Tanning PreventionR01CA176196 · NCI · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · PI CHO, HYUNYI · 2014 to 2017
$1.3M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA176196
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of 160 media literacy interventions from 1983 to 2023, finding overall positive effects. Effects were larger for media-over behavior-relevant outcomes and for social over health topics. Stronger effects were found for knowledge outcomes at both immediate-post and delayed follow-up assessments. Attitudes and critical beliefs predicted behavior. No substantial decay in effects was observed between immediate-post and follow-up assessments for multiple outcomes but not for behavior. Interventions targeting social media showed smaller effects for some outcomes compared to those that did not. Online delivery had smaller effects for various outcomes compared to in-person delivery. These findings suggest challenges and opportunities regarding digital and social media for the interventions. Dose was inconsistently linked to outcomes. No significant relationship was found between study year and effect size. The heterogeneity of effects observed across variables suggests a need for more parsimonious frameworks in media literacy research.

Indexed as

interventionsmedia literacymeta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID40190484
PMCPMC11968027

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.