Uncertain and Anxiously Searching for Answers: The Roles of Negative HealthCare Experiences and Medical Mistrust in Intentions to Seek Information from Online Spaces

ABSTRACT

While online sources of information, like support groups and wellness influencers, can be beneficial for those seeking additional information about their health conditions, these sources can also contain detrimental information. As misinformation and even conspiracies like QAnon proliferate in wellness discourse, particularly in online support groups and on the accounts of wellness influencers, it becomes increasingly important to understand what may contribute to individuals seeking information from these sources. Based on uncertainty in illness theory and the theory of motivated information management, we conducted a cross-sectional survey (N = 544) to test the role of negative health-care experiences and medical mistrust in uncertainty and information seeking from online support groups and wellness influencers across those with chronic and acute health concerns. Results indicated that negative health-care experiences had an indirect effect on information seeking from both online support groups and wellness influencers. This indirect effect, however, operated through uncertainty anxiety but not uncertainty discrepancy. For those with chronic conditions, the indirect effect also included medical mistrust. Implications and future extensions of the results are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.