title: Education differences in cancer fatalism: The role of information-seeking experiences.
abstract: Cancer fatalism is the belief that cancer is uncontrollable and lethal. Individuals with less education are more likely to hold fatalistic beliefs about cancer, but the mechanism accounting for the relationship is unknown. We tested whether negative health information seeking experiences explain this relationship. Structural equation modeling was used to test this relationship across three datasets from the Health Information National Trends Survey. Across all datasets, the model showed good fit: Cycle 1 (coefficient of determination = .11, comparative fit index = .96, root mean square error of approximation = .047), Cycle 2 (coefficient of determination = .06, comparative fit index = .96, root mean square error of approximation = .046), and Cycle 3 (coefficient of determination = .08, comparative fit index = .95, root mean square error of approximation = .052). The link between lower education level and higher cancer fatalism was partially mediated by negative health information seeking experiences.
authors.affiliation: 1 University of Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Amber S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Emanuel
authors.affiliation: 2 Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Godinho
authors.affiliation: 3 Kent State University, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Steinman
authors.affiliation: 3 Kent State University, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Updegraff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cancer; cancer fatalism; education; fatalism; health information seeking