Effect of Trust in Science on Parental Reactions to Messaging about Children's Epigenetics-Related Obesity Risk

Accumulating evidence suggests that preconception epigenetic changes elevate the risk for obesity throughout the lifespan. Little is known about how parents may react to learning about parent-child epigenetic transmission of obesity risk. Further, it is unclear how trust in science may moderate these responses.

We compared risk perceptions, behavioral intentions, perceived control, and information-focused ratings of 322 parents with high weight status who were randomized to read an article about the role of preconception epigenetics in intergenerational obesity risk transmission, versus three comparators that focused on genetics, family environment, or an unrelated topic.

Parents had largely similar reactions to the epigenetics, genetics, and family environment articles in terms of perceived credibility, relevance, and threat response, but the epigenetics article failed to produce the elevated cognitive (F(3, 310) = 3.027, p = 0.030) and affective/intuitive (F(3, 310) = 3.05, p = 0.029) risk perceptions observed in response to the genetics and family environment articles compared to control. Science trust moderated individual reactions to the epigenetics concepts, such that those with low science trust exhibited lower attentiveness to the epigenetics article (F(4, 249) = 2.92, p = 0.022), and groups with low, medium, or high science trust exhibited distinct reaction profiles in terms of affective/intuitive risk perception (F(6, 310) = 2.40, p = 0.028).

An audience's trust in science should be considered when tailoring messages about the role of epigenetics in conveying obesity risk from parent to child.