Worry as an Uncertainty-Associated Emotion: Exploring the Role of Worry in Health Information Seeking

This study was carried out to understand how and why worry motivates health-related information seeking, and whether worry decreases after obtaining health-related information. It was proposed that worry influences health-related information-seeking behavior indirectly through cancer patients' desire for obtaining additional information. It was further expected that perceived knowledge about cancer could be increased after 2 months of searching for health information over the Internet, which would subsequently affect levels of worry. Using panel data collected from 224 women diagnosed with breast cancer, worry was found to predict patients' health information seeking via the perceived need for additional information. The results further showed significant increases in patients' perceived knowledge about breast cancer and decreased levels of worry after the seeking of health information for 2 months. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.