Brief Summary

Alcohol increases the risk for at least seven cancers, yet recent estimates suggest only between one-third and one-half of US adults are aware of this risk. The current study aims to develop and test alcohol-cancer messages designed for a mass media public health campaign. The messages will be informed by theory-based constructs proximal to health behavior change (e.g., perceived likelihood/severity of harm, response efficacy). We will evaluate messages via an online, cross-sectional message testing randomized experiment. Participants will be US adults aged 21+ recruited from Qualtrics Panels.

Trial Health

At Risk

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Trial has exceeded expected completion date

Enrollment

1,400

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline

Completed

Started Sep 2026

Shorter than P25 for not_applicable

Status

not yet recruiting

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

1 month study duration

Study Start

First participant enrolled

September 1, 2026

Completed

16 days until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

September 17, 2026

Completed

13 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

September 30, 2026

Completed

1 day until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

October 1, 2026

Completed

Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

October 1, 2026

Completed

Last Updated

September 30, 2026

Status Verified

September 1, 2026

Enrollment Period

1 month

First QC Date

September 17, 2026

Last Update Submit

September 23, 2026

Conditions

Alcohol Message Perception PME

Keywords

Message testing experimentAlcohol risk messagesAlcohol and cancer

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

Perceived message effectiveness - effects perceptions
A 3-item scale adapted from prior effects perception PME and substance use literature. After each message exposure, participants will be asked to respond to the following items: 1) This message discourages me from wanting to drink alcohol; 2) This message makes me concerned about the health effects of drinking alcohol; and 3) This message makes drinking alcohol seem unpleasant to me. Items will be assessed on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). We will assess internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha. Assuming adequate measure reliability, we will average the items into a single composite PME measure.
Day 1; post intervention exposure

Secondary Outcomes (11)

Drinking intentions
Day 1; post intervention exposure
Message reactance
Day 1; post intervention exposure
Non-alcoholic beer message perceptions
Day 1; post intervention exposure
Perceived message effectiveness - message perceptions
Day 1; post intervention exposure
Attitudes toward alcohol
Day 1; post intervention exposure
+6 more secondary outcomes

Study Arms (7)

Perceived likelihood frame

EXPERIMENTAL

Exposure to two alcohol-cancer messages that convey the probability of experiencing a health harm (i.e., cancer) from a particular hazard (i.e., drinking alcohol). The intervention will be administered in an online survey experiment as static images displayed to participants.