Information avoidance behavior: Does ignorance keep us uninformed about antimicrobial resistance?

Meerza, Syed Imran Ali; Brooks, Kathleen R.; Gustafson, Christopher R.; Yiannaka, Amalia

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102067

Cited by 12 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Second, in the HPS survey, the relationship between hopelessness and foregoing medical care may be bi-directional. That is, while feelings of hopelessness increase the probability of avoidance behavior-which we find in data from both AMR and HPS surveys and many others have found previously [14][15][16][17]-respondents who did not access needed care may have been more likely to feel hopeless as a result of not receiving the care. As the HPS is a repeated cross-section of the population, the data needed to disentangle these effects are not available.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Hope has been defined as the perception that one has the ability to identify and use pathways to achieve desired outcomes, and is associated with a host of positive life outcomes [13]. Feeling hopeless or powerless to respond effectively is an important predictor of the decision to avoid information in important health-related domains [14][15][16][17]. Avoidance behaviors have been documented in an array of settings, including information about nutrition [18]; receiving tests for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and HIV [19][20][21][22][23][24]; and learning about important challenges facing the human health sector, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Feeling hopeless or powerless to respond effectively is an important predictor of the decision to avoid information in important health-related domains [14][15][16][17]. Avoidance behaviors have been documented in an array of settings, including information about nutrition [18]; receiving tests for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and HIV [19][20][21][22][23][24]; and learning about important challenges facing the human health sector, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) [17]. Information avoidance is common for threats perceived to be unmanageable [14][15][16][17], while believing one can mitigate disease risks decreases information avoidance [25][26][27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Avoidance behaviors have been documented in an array of settings, including information about nutrition [18]; receiving tests for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and HIV [19][20][21][22][23][24]; and learning about important challenges facing the human health sector, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) [17]. Information avoidance is common for threats perceived to be unmanageable [14][15][16][17], while believing one can mitigate disease risks decreases information avoidance [25][26][27]. Possessing the capacity and mental health resources to manage threats-by feeling optimistic, employing emotional coping strategies, or perceiving the agency to act, among others-decreases information avoidance, while feeling hopeless or powerless to do anything about a situation increases avoidance behavior across health and non-health domains [16,17,[28][29][30][31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information avoidance is common for threats perceived to be unmanageable [14][15][16][17], while believing one can mitigate disease risks decreases information avoidance [25][26][27]. Possessing the capacity and mental health resources to manage threats-by feeling optimistic, employing emotional coping strategies, or perceiving the agency to act, among others-decreases information avoidance, while feeling hopeless or powerless to do anything about a situation increases avoidance behavior across health and non-health domains [16,17,[28][29][30][31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Emotional responses to COVID-19 stressors increase avoidance of health information and access to care

Gustafson¹,

Brooks²,

Meerza³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The COVID-19 pandemic, like other crises, has had direct and indirect impacts on people’s lives, many of which have been negative. However, there is little evidence about how COVID-19 affects decision-making. Emotional responses to COVID-19- related stressors, such as local cases and income loss, provide a pathway for these stressors to affect decision-making. In this study, we examine linkages between exposure to COVID-19-related stressors—focusing on temporally specific local case counts and loss of income due to the pandemic—and behaviors for important health decisions with both individual (accessing health care) and societal (accessing information about antimicrobial resistance (AMR)) relevance. In the analysis of two health behaviors that use data from 1) a custom AMR survey and 2) the U.S. Census’s Household Pulse Survey, which asked about accessing healthcare, we find that exposure to COVID-19 stressors significantly increases feelings of hopelessness. Higher levels of hopelessness are associated with an increased probability of avoiding health information about AMR and foregoing or delaying needed medical care. Mediation analysis confirms that hopelessness is an important pathway through which COVID-19-related stressors affect avoidance behaviors. Our results suggest that large- scale crises may diminish action on other important personal and societal health issues facing humanity through emotion-mediated changes in decision-making.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Emotional responses to COVID-19 stressors increase avoidance of health information and access to care

Gustafson¹,

Brooks²,

Meerza³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Consumer perception and understanding of the risks of antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in farming

et al. 2022

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To combat the OneHealth threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the use of antibiotics in agriculture is subject to significant governance-led initiatives to change food system behaviours, including promoting more responsible use of antibiotics on farms through marketlevel interventions. To combat knowledge gaps about how consumers perceive risks associated with antibiotic use and AMR in farming, the current study carried out an in-depth qualitative focus group study incorporating a risk information exposure exercise with food consumers on the island of Ireland (n = 36). Using a theoretical lens of social representation theory, a thematic analysis of the collected data identified how participants made sense of, often new, information on agricultural antibiotic use and AMR. Participants displayed high awareness and concern for AMR but low understanding and misconceptions around AMR transmission from the agri-food sector. Social representations about antibiotics and food and farming systems shaped preferences for a movement away from antibiotics in farming, and in particular, prophylactic use. However, participants acknowledged the role of antibiotics to protect animal health and the integrity of the food supply chain. They debated the lack of a simple fix to antibiotics in the agri-food system and revealed preferences for preventive actions at farm level and supporting actions at market level. The study highlights the need to first tackle low levels of public understanding through effective risk communication including strategies such as targeted message framing and proactive, cross-sector OneHealth awareness campaigns, followed by the introduction of a trusted antibiotic use food labelling system.

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Assessing the influence of information on the intention to use dietary supplements: An online questionnaire study

Lenssen

Fuentes²,

Osch

et al. 2022

Journal of Functional Foods

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Information avoidance behavior: Does ignorance keep us uninformed about antimicrobial resistance?

Cited by 12 publications

References 41 publications

Emotional responses to COVID-19 stressors increase avoidance of health information and access to care

Emotional responses to COVID-19 stressors increase avoidance of health information and access to care

Consumer perception and understanding of the risks of antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in farming

Assessing the influence of information on the intention to use dietary supplements: An online questionnaire study

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