JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Affect play a crucial role in how health messages are designed, delivered and influence audiences’ perceptions, attitudes, and ultimately health-related behavior. Adolescents are notably sensitive to affective cues in communication. However, there is a lack of reviews synthesising the evidence examining the role of affect in health messaging targeted at adolescents concerning the diverse affective communication strategies used and the affective processing of information.

Objective:

The aim of this scoping review is to systematically map the empirical studies examining the role of affect in health messaging targeted at adolescents, their theoretical underpinnings and the associated behavioral outcomes. This review is guided by the following research questions: 1) What empirical literature exist regarding the use of affective appeals in health messages (e.g. message framing, affective appealing narratives, and emotional valence), and how do these appeals influence adolescents’ behavioral outcomes? 2) What empirical literature exist regarding how adolescents process affective appealing health messages, and how does this processing influence behavioral outcomes?

Methods:

We will conduct our review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) Checklist. We will include empirical studies that examine health messages directed at adolescents, originating from formal or informal sources, or research-based experimental designs. These studies utilize a variety of communication modalities. Only studies focusing on public mass communication and mass communication through informal sources (e.g. social media) will be included; those involving interpersonal or intrapersonal communication will be excluded. To be eligible, studies have to explore the role affect—either in terms of how adolescents process affective appealing health information (recipient-focused), or how affective appeals are embedded in the design of the message (e.g., narratives, framing, or valence). We will include studies reporting outcomes related to health-related judgments, decision-making, or behavior, whether in the context of urgent or non-urgent health issues. Only English-language, peer-reviewed empirical studies published in 2014 or later will be included. Data from eligible studies will be extracted into a matrix, summarized in tabular form, and synthesized using a narrative approach.

Results:

By May 2025, we have searched the following databases: EMBASE, MEDLINE ovid, and PsychINFO, and screened 29 reviews, which have resulted in 1852 unique hits. Screening and full text assessment will be conducted in 2025.

Conclusions:

We anticipate that this scoping review will draw some lines related how adolescents behave, form judgements and make decisions in response to affective appealing health messages, and how they process affective appealing health messages, and highlight the theoretical foundation underlying these studies. Additionally, the review will conclude by outlining the research gaps and offering recommendations for future studies.