Since many situations in health and illness are appraised as stressful, information seeking as a mode of emotion and problem focused coping used to reduce risk can be viewed as an important strategy underlying decision-making in health related situations. Recent research suggests however that individuals may differ in their preferences to be informed and to use this information to exercise control in health care situations. Little research in nursing, however, has focused on the concepts of information seeking and information preference, despite its potential for impacting nursing practice, specifically informational interventions. The research literature suggests that a number of variables, including socio-economic status, fear, perceived risk, and emotional variables states can influence patients' responses to informational interventions and/or recovery from surgery. Therefore, the primary aim of this exploratory study is to systematically examine the structural relationships between selected situational, demographic and emotional variables, risk reduction strategies, including information seeking, and information and behavior preferences in hospitalized surgical patients pre and post operatively. Both qualitative (standardized interviews) and quantitative (instruments measuring information and behavior control preferences and mood states) date will be collected on 130 general surgery patients pre and post operatively in order to 1) identify significant predictive situational, demographic, and emotional variables on the criterion variables of information and control preferences; 2) test a measurement model for information and control preferences; and 3) develop a structural equation model to ascertain the effect of significant variables on information and control preferences. Mapping the topography of the surgical experience relative to situational demographic, emotional and individual difference variables is an important step in laying the groundwork for an intervention study in which information and behavior control preferences can be matched with information and/or other nursing care interventions.
