arbiter
JournalsAccount

Media literacy intervention effects on young adults’ decision making about substance use-related social media messages

ERICA WEINTRAUB AUSTIN et al.

Health Marketing Quarterly2026https://doi.org/10.1080/07359683.2026.2635874article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Young adults often encounter and share misinformation in desirable social media messages. This process, challenging to disrupt, can contribute to substance misuse. This study tested whether a novel, meme-style, infographic-based media literacy intervention could mitigate effects of appealing but misleading substance use-related social media content for U.S. adults aged 18-29 (N = 1201). Results of a mixed between-subjects factorial, post-test-only online experiment detected small effects on expectancies for tobacco use among adults aged 18-20 and on intent to avoid sharing misinformation among adults aged 27-29. These age differences suggest that media literacy interventions can benefit by segmenting strategies according to cognitive and emotional communication processes that are associated with neurocognitive and social characteristics of young adults. For example, emerging adults may benefit from digital messages that focus on refuting short-term emotional benefits offered by social media misinformation. Adults in their late-20s may be interested in the logical ramifications of sharing misinformation.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07359683.2026.2635874

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{erica2026,
  title        = {{Media literacy intervention effects on young adults’ decision making about substance use-related social media messages}},
  author       = {ERICA WEINTRAUB AUSTIN et al.},
  journal      = {Health Marketing Quarterly},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07359683.2026.2635874},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Media literacy intervention effects on young adults’ decision making about substance use-related social media messages

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.