Overcoming Black Americans' Psychological and Cognitive Barriers to Clinical Trial Participation: Effects of News Framing and Exemplars

Abstract

This study examines how news features (framing and the use of exemplars) can help overcome two common barriers (psychological and cognitive) impeding Black American participation in clinical trials. In an online experiment, Black participants (N = 390) viewed social media news posts varying in framing (focus on psychological vs. cognitive barriers) and use of an exemplar (present vs. absent and White vs. Black) and then responded to outcome measures including perceived message effectiveness, message attitudes, and intention to participate in clinical trials. The findings illustrate that including a racially matched (i.e. Black) exemplar improves attitudes toward clinical trial messages. Most notably, featuring a race-matched exemplar increases intention to participate in a trial when the messages discuss psychological barriers. These findings enhance our understanding of how messages can be better designed to increase Black American participation in clinical trials, thereby contributing to reducing health inequities and improving health outcomes.

Figure 1

Interaction Between Exemplar Presence by Frame Focus on Information Seeking Note. The scale on the y-axis is 4 – 6 (instead of the full range of 1 – 7) because the interaction effect is too small to visualize on the full range scale. Error bars = 95%CI.

Figure 2

Interaction Between Exemplar Presence by Frame Focus on Behavioral Intention Note. The scale on the y-axis is 4 – 6 (instead of the full range of 1 – 7) because the interaction effect is too small to visualize on the full range scale. Error bars = 95%CI.