Latinas face barriers to accessing comprehensive family planning services, including language barriers, limited access to care, and a lack of culturally relevant health information. These women are also increasingly exposed to contraceptive misinformation and disinformation online. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, posts often exaggerate risks, stoke fear, and cast doubt on the safety of hormonal contraception and emergency contraception. These narratives distort public understanding, deter use of effective methods, and deepen mistrust in providers and public health systems.

This project investigates how young Latinas in California engage with online contraceptive content. We will conduct a two-part survey grounded in the Online Misinformation Engagement Framework to explore how digital contraceptive misinformation influences perceptions, trust, and decision-making. In the first survey, we will use a Discrete Choice Experiment to assess how participants weigh message attributes such as source, tone, framing, and evidence when deciding what to believe. In the second survey, participants will engage with a simulated social media feed, allowing us to observe emotional and behavioral responses including reading more, ignoring, sharing, or reporting posts.

We will generate empirical evidence on the specific elements of online health communication that shape trust and credibility and how they influence contraceptive attitudes and behaviors among young Latinas. Our study will identify message characteristics that resonate with this population and promote informed decision-making. These findings will guide the design of digital health communication strategies that support reproductive autonomy and counter misinformation in communities historically excluded from reproductive health research and outreach.