Communicating Risk and Uncertainty in Health Contexts

This Research Topic invites submissions that explore the communication of risk and uncertainty across diverse health contexts. We aim to highlight research that deepens our understanding of how risk and uncertain information are communicated, interpreted, and acted upon—particularly in light of emerging technologies, cultural influences, and evolving communication channels.

We welcome manuscripts that address the following themes:

Processes and Mechanisms of Risk Communication

• Studies that investigate underlying processes or theoretically grounded mechanisms through which messages about risk or uncertainty affect understanding, attitudes, and behaviors.
• Research examining how mass media messages influence interpersonal communication about risk and uncertainty.

Risk Message Production and Design

• Explorations of how artificial intelligence (AI) can support, refine, or complicate risk communication efforts. What new risks emerge when AI is used to generate or deliver health messages?
• Studies that move beyond single-message manipulations to assess the impact of messages repeated across several channels (e.g., interpersonal and mass mediated) or combinations of message features (e.g., text and imagery, gain vs. loss framing with abstract vs. concrete construals).

Cross-Cutting and Universal Insights

• Contributions that offer conceptual or empirical insights into generalizable patterns in risk perception and response.
• Investigations into whether certain principles of risk communication hold across different health contexts or share commonalities based on attributes of the situation.

Cultural Influences on Risk Perception

• Research that examines how cultural values, norms, and communication styles shape perceptions of risk and uncertainty.
• Studies that provide actionable insights into tailoring risk messages for diverse cultural audiences.

Downstream Effects of Communicating Uncertainty

• Papers that explore how uncertainty in health communication affects decision-making, health behaviors, and clinical outcomes.
• Work that considers both short-term and long-term consequences of uncertainty in health messaging.

We encourage submissions from a range of methodological approaches and disciplines, including communication, public health, psychology, sociology, and data science. The goal is to foster a rich, interdisciplinary dialogue that advances both theory and practice in health risk communication.

Please note that this collection focuses specifically on human health contexts; submissions concerning animal health fall outside its scope.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: health communication, risk communication, uncertainty, decision-making, message effects, science communication

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.