Nationally representative survey finds cancer worry mediates social media impact on tobacco policy support, highlighting opportunities for targeted public health messaging.
= 2,671) data, a nationally representative sample collected from the United States. We found that cancer worry mediated 4.6% of the total effect, with smoking status positively moderating this pathway. While nonsmokers showed higher baseline support, smokers exhibited steeper increases in policy backing as cancer worry intensified. Results aligned with the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, suggesting targeted social media messaging could enhance tobacco policy advocacy, particularly for smokers with familial cancer risks. The study offers theoretical contributions to public health and health communication, as well as practical implications for policymakers and the general public.
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Li et al. (2026) studied this question.
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