Resumen:
Research examining the link between media attention and breast cancer
concern has been frequently conducted with middle/old-age women, even
though young women (<40 years old) have been overrepresented media
stories about breast cancer. Accordingly, little is known about young
women’s emotional reactions to breast cancer media messages and the
psychological factors modulating such reactions. This study examined the
impact of breast cancer media messages and cognitive fusion on negative
affect, fear of breast cancer (FBC), and perceived susceptibility to breast
cancer. 207 young women were randomly assigned to watch a low- or highthreat
video about breast cancer. A MANCOVA revealed that participants
who viewed the high-threat video reported greater negative affect and
perceived susceptibility, but not FBC; however, participants in both conditions
showed moderate/high FBC. Correlational analyses and a MANOVA
showed that participants reporting higher cognitive fusion reported higher
negative affect across conditions, as well as higher FBC in the high-threat
condition. Taken together, these results suggest that young women may
show habituation to alarmist media messages, but may noneth...