Source of Health Information and Exposure to Public Health Messaging Inconsistency: An Exploratory Study of College Students’ Perceptions and Experiences

Public health messaging inconsistency (PHMI), meaning contradictory, mixed, or rapidly changing health information, can foster confusion and erode trust, yet little is known about college students’ perspectives on and experiences with PHMI. This study of 625 college students at a large Southwestern U.S. university assessed undergraduate students’ exposure to PHMI, their views on who should help reduce it, and their perceptions of its seriousness and impact. Health information sources and sociodemographic information were also collected. Students most often reported getting health information “always” or “very often” from family members (32%), healthcare providers (28%), online sources (28%), and social media (28%). Social media was the most frequent source of PHMI (34%), followed by news media (20%), while government agencies and healthcare providers were rarely cited (≤5%). Most students agreed that PHMI harms physical (71%) and mental (72%) health, and 65% viewed it as a serious problem in the U.S. Majorities assigned a major role in reducing PHMI to healthcare providers (65%), federal (61%) and state (58%) policymakers, news media (57%), and social media platforms (53%). Overall, 41.2% reported that PHMI had negatively affected them or family members. Bivariate analyses found significantly higher reporting of negative effects from PHMI among students who reported poorer health, had multiple chronic conditions or recent emergency room visits, or had never received a COVID-19 vaccine. College students appear to navigate a crowded and inconsistent information environment shaped largely by mass and social media and are profoundly affected by PHMI. Universities and public health communicators may benefit from prioritizing coherent, transparent messaging and digital health literacy, with particular attention to more vulnerable students.