Information seeking versus avoiding: How do college students respond to stress-related information?

Abstract

Focusing on the population of college students in the health context of stress and stress management, this study used an experimental design to test whether the variables of risk perception, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and source credibility can influence health information engagement. Results showed that both risk perception and response efficacy were positively associated with information seeking and negatively associated with information avoiding, but only risk perception had a strong and statistically significant influence on information engagement. No interaction or moderating effects were found. The implications of these findings for information engagement research and strategic health communication are discussed.