Health-related conspiracy theories can undermine the trustworthiness of actors and institutions and may impact an individual’s intention to seek help. Across three experimental studies, we investigated the consequences of exposure to an antidepressant conspiracy theory on general intentions to seek medical and psychological help. Study 1 participants (N = 299) were randomly allocated to read one of three articles (pro-conspiracy, anti-conspiracy, control) after which they completed measures of conspiracy endorsement, trust, powerlessness, and health-seeking intentions. Results suggested that exposure to antidepressant conspiracy theories significantly reduced individual’s intention to seek help indirectly through decreased trust in health authorities, but not health-industry-related powerlessness. In two additional pre-registered studies, we found some support for these findings. While Study 2 (N = 244) found no support for a direct or indirect relationship between conspiracy exposure and health-seeking intentions, an exploratory analysis highlighted the importance of gender differences when investigating conspiracy exposure on intentions. Study 3 (N = 247) replicated Study 1 findings, highlighting that antidepressant conspiracy theories decrease health-seeking intentions indirectly through decreased trust and increased powerlessness. Mere exposure to antidepressant conspiracy theories had significant indirect consequences on general health-seeking intentions.

中文翻译：

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抗抑郁药骗局：阴谋论降低了寻求健康的意图

与健康相关的阴谋论会破坏行为者和机构的可信度，并可能影响个人寻求帮助的意图。在三项实验研究中，我们调查了暴露于抗抑郁药阴谋论对寻求医疗和心理帮助的一般意图的影响。研究 1 参与者 ( N = 299）被随机分配阅读三篇文章（支持阴谋、反阴谋、控制）中的一篇，然后他们完成了阴谋背书、信任、无能为力和寻求健康意图的措施。结果表明，接触抗抑郁药阴谋论会显着降低个人通过降低对卫生当局的信任而间接寻求帮助的意愿，但不会降低与卫生行业相关的无力感。在另外两项预先注册的研究中，我们发现了对这些发现的一些支持。虽然研究 2 ( N  = 244) 没有发现阴谋暴露与寻求健康意图之间存在直接或间接关系的支持，但一项探索性分析强调了在调查阴谋暴露意图时性别差异的重要性。研究 3 (N  = 247) 重复了研究 1 的发现，强调抗抑郁药阴谋论通过减少信任和增加无力感间接降低了寻求健康的意图。仅仅接触抗抑郁药的阴谋论就会对一般寻求健康的意图产生重大的间接影响。