Effectiveness and determinants of narrative-based corrections for health misinformation: A systematic review

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of narrative-based interventions in correcting health-related misinformation and to identify key message-related, sender-related, and recipient-related factors influencing their success.

A comprehensive literature search was conducted in databases including PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Academic Search Complete, Communication Abstracts, and Web of Science. Eligible studies included quantitative intervention studies examining the impact of narrative-based corrections on health-related misinformation.

Twenty studies covering topics such as COVID-19, vaccination, tobacco use, and e-cigarette use were included. Among the 16 studies comparing narrative and nonnarrative corrections, only four showed that narratives were significantly more effective in reducing misinformation-related beliefs than other message types. Several factors influenced narrative effectiveness. Message-related factors include emotional language, social framing, and message sidedness. Sender-related factors, such as the credibility of the source and relational closeness with recipients, also affected outcomes. Recipient-related factors, including cognitive style, political ideology, and social media use motivation, moderated the intervention effects. Some studies have reported unintended backfire effects in which narratives reinforce misinformation.

Narrative-based corrections show the potential for addressing health-related misinformation; however, their effectiveness remains inconsistent. The variability in narrative design, media platforms, and insufficient theoretical grounding may explain these mixed results. Future research should focus on theoretically informed narratives and systematically examine the influencing factors to optimize misinformation correction strategies.

The effectiveness of narrative-based corrections on health misinformation depends on thoughtful design grounded in theoretical principles such as transportation, identification, and exemplification. Health communicators should consider narrative length, depth, and emotional content and adapt messages to different platforms (e.g., social media). Tailoring interventions to audience characteristics, such as cognitive styles and prior beliefs, can further enhance efforts to correct misinformation.