The role of intolerance of uncertainty in the repeated exposure to cancer information

ABSTRACT

Cancer information acquisition is beneficial for cancer prevention. However, for some people, information exposure brings about greater uncertainty and anxiety, which prompt them to engage in subsequent exposure. This study tested whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a strong predictor of information exposure, can be used to identify such people in the cancer context. A longitudinal survey in South Korea (N = 1,130 at Wave 1 and 813 at Wave 2) revealed that the effect of past information exposure about cancer on future exposure is stronger for people with high IU. The results suggest that those with high IU feel greater cancer-related anxiety, resulting from the past exposure, and more eagerly engage in future exposure. Although highly correlated with IU, trait anxiety did not moderate the relationship between past and future exposure, suggesting that the role of IU in the cancer context is distinct from other neurotic traits.

KEYWORDS:

• cancer
• information exposure
• intolerance of uncertainty
• longitudinal study
• trait anxiety

Funding

This work was supported by the National University of Singapore.

Notes

1. There are two forms of health information exposure. Information seeking refers to an active, nonroutine, and purposeful search of information, and information scanning refers to exposure to information sources within one's routine (Niederdeppe et al., 2007). This study measures general exposure that encompasses both seeking and scanning and, thus, uses the term “exposure.”

2. The phenomenon has been labeled cyberchondria, especially in the Internet context (Fergus, 2013). However, this study examines health information from diverse mediated and interpersonal sources.