title: Comparing decision making between cancer patients and the general population: thoughts, emotions, or social influence?
abstract: This study extends a risk information seeking and processing model to explore the relative effect of cognitive processing strategies, positive and negative emotions, and normative beliefs on individuals' decision making about potential health risks. Most previous research based on this theoretical framework has examined environmental risks. Applying this risk communication model to study health decision making presents an opportunity to explore theoretical boundaries of the model, while also bringing this research to bear on a pressing medical issue: low enrollment in clinical trials. Comparative analysis of data gathered from 2 telephone surveys of a representative national sample (n = 500) and a random sample of cancer patients (n = 411) indicated that emotions played a more substantive role in cancer patients' decisions to enroll in a potential trial, whereas cognitive processing strategies and normative beliefs had greater influences on the decisions of respondents from the national sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA. zyang5@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: Z Janet
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: McComas
authors.forename: Geri K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Gay
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dannenberg
authors.forename: Hildy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dillon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D018579:Patient Selection; D012309:Risk-Taking