Strategies for mitigating cancer fatalism among individuals with a cancer family history through social media activities

Background People with a cancer family history are among those who experience severe cancer fatalism and are more likely to seek cancer-related information on social media. However, the spread of health misinformation on social media negativly impacts people's attitudes towards healthy behaviors and triggers negative emotional responses. Few studies have specifically examined how online cancer information influences cancer fatalistic attitudes in this context. This study aims to investigate strategies for reducing cancer fatalism when people with a cancer family history engage in social media activities. Methods The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) in 2022 was conducted to create an integrated model for reducing cancer fatalism through four social media activities (i.e., visiting social media sites, sharing health-related information, online discussion and watching health-related videos) among people with a cancer family history (N = 3708). Results Confidence in online information seeking and barriers to cancer information seeking were found to be significant mediators between social media activities and cancer fatalism. Specifically, engaging in visiting social media sites, sharing health-related information and watching health-related videos may reduce cancer fatalism by increasing confidence in online information seeking. Increased confidence in searching abilities would help them overcome barriers, mitigating their cancer fatalism. However, no matter how much misinformation people are exposed to, engaging in these activities has a weak effect on cancer fatalism. We also found that there is no significant direct or indirect link between online discussions and cancer fatalism. Conclusion This study found that social media activities have a positive effect on cancer fatalism. It offered advice to people with a cancer family history on how to reduce cancer fatalism while maintaining positive cancer prevention beliefs. People with a cancer family history could be encouraged to challenge negative health beliefs and promote health-prevention behaviours.