Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41792670›Full record

Trial reportBMC public health2026

Message reactance as a mediator of effects of alcohol and cancer risk messages.

Jacob A Rohde, Jackelyn B Payne, Carlos O Garrido, Emma Jesch, Rebecca A Ferrer, Richard P Moser, David Berrigan, William M P Klein, Paul K J Han

Erratum issuedAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. 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. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jacob A RohdeDepartment of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, 358 Mansfield Rd, U-1101, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA. jacob.rohde@uconn.edu.
Jackelyn B PayneCancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.
Carlos O GarridoDivision of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Emma JeschCancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.
Rebecca A FerrerBehavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.
Richard P MoserBehavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.
David BerriganBehavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.
William M P KleinBehavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.
Paul K J HanBehavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis study examined whether message reactance mediates the cognitive effects of messages about the causal relationship between alcohol and cancer.

methodsWe randomly assigned US adults (N = 799) recruited from a commercial online research panel to receive one of two types of messages about the alcohol-cancer link: (1) high-certainty (e.g., “Drinking alcohol causes cancer”), and (2) low-certainty, employing the modal verb “may” (e.g., “Drinking alcohol may cause cancer”). We evaluated whether message reactance mediated the effects of message certainty vs. uncertainty on (1) perceived causal certainty about the alcohol-cancer link, and (2) perceived alcohol-related cancer risk. We also explored whether heavy vs. non-heavy alcohol consumption moderated these effects.

resultsMessage reactance mediated the effects of high-certainty (vs. low) messages on perceived causal certainty (direct: b=0.54; indirect: b=-0.11; both ps<0.001) and alcohol-related cancer risk (direct: b=0.37; indirect: b=-0.13; both ps<0.001)—suppressing the positive effects of expressed certainty on both outcomes. The suppressive effects of message reactance on perceived causal certainty were stronger for participants reporting heavy (b=-0.50) vs. non-heavy alcohol consumption (b=-0.35; p=.034). Conditional indirect effects for the perceived causal certainty model only remained significant for participants with non-heavy alcohol consumption (b=-0.10; p=.004).

conclusionsEffects of high-certainty (vs. low) messages were negatively mediated by message reactance and moderated by alcohol consumption. Findings suggest that although high-certainty risk messages may increase cancer risk perceptions, their effect is attenuated by inciting negative reactance to the messages, particularly for those who consume a heavy amount of alcohol. These mixed effects should be considered in future messaging initiatives aimed at communicating the alcohol-cancer relationship to the public.

Indexed as

Alcohol DrinkingNeoplasmsAdultFemaleHumansMaleMedia ExposureMiddle AgedUnited StatesYoung AdultAlcohol consumptioncancer preventionmessage reactancerisk messages

Identifiers

PMID41792670
PMCPMC13081492

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.