The Effect of Message Framing on African American Women’s Intention to Participate in Health-Related Research

Abstract

This study examined the effect of message framing on African American women’s intention to participate in health-related research and actual registration in ResearchMatch (RM), a disease-neutral, national volunteer research registry. A community-engaged approach was used involving collaboration between an academic medical center and a volunteer service organization formed by professional women of color. A self-administered survey that contained an embedded message framing manipulation was distributed to more than 2,000 African American women attending the 2012 national assembly of The Links, Incorporated. A total of 391 surveys were completed (381 after exclusion: 187 containing the gain-framed message and 194 containing the loss-framed message). The majority (57%) of women expressed favorable intentions to participate in health-related research, and 21% subsequently enrolled in RM. The effect of message framing on intention was moderated by self-efficacy. There was no effect of message framing on RM registration; however, those with high self-efficacy were more than 2 times as likely as those with low self-efficacy to register as a potential study volunteer in RM (odds ratio = 2.62, 95% confidence interval [1.29, 5.33]). This investigation makes theoretical and practical contributions to the field of health communication and informs future strategies to meaningfully and effectively include women and minorities in health-related research.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Michael (Woon Tzu) Lin (Mayo Clinic) and to Drs. Paul Harris and Laurie Lebo (Vanderbilt University) for creating the ResearchMatch portals for this study.

Funding

This study was funded by the Mayo Clinic Office of Health Disparities Research. The Office of Health Disparities Research had no involvement in the analysis or interpretation of the data or the decision to submit this article for publication. Drs. Balls-Berry and Enders were supported in part by the Center for Clinical and Translational Science Grant No. UL1 TR000135 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. We do not have any relevant disclosures to report related to this research.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Mayo Clinic Office of Health Disparities Research. The Office of Health Disparities Research had no involvement in the analysis or interpretation of the data or the decision to submit this article for publication. Drs. Balls-Berry and Enders were supported in part by the Center for Clinical and Translational Science Grant No. UL1 TR000135 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. We do not have any relevant disclosures to report related to this research.