Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, 44242-0001, Kent, OH, USA.
Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
J Behav Med. 2023 Aug;46(4):541-555. doi: 10.1007/s10865-022-00384-5. Epub 2022 Dec 27.
Uncertainty is prevalent in various health contexts. It is imperative to understand how health-related uncertainty can impact individuals' healthcare experiences and health decision making. The purpose of the present paper is to provide five overarching recommendations from an interdisciplinary team of experts to address gaps in the literature on health-related uncertainty. We present a case study of health-related uncertainty within the specific context of alcohol use to demonstrate these gaps and provide context for the recommendations. The five recommendations concerning health-related uncertainty include: (1) use common, consistent terminology to discuss uncertainty, (2) clarify measures of individual differences in response to uncertainty, (3) increase research on uncertainty and affect, (4) investigate the impact of the channel through which uncertainty is communicated, and (5) develop theory-driven interventions to improve uncertainty management. We conclude by reviewing health contexts in which health-related uncertainty exists and note how our recommendations complement existing reviews and data.
不确定性在各种健康背景下普遍存在。了解健康相关不确定性如何影响个人的医疗保健体验和健康决策至关重要。本文的目的是提供来自跨学科专家团队的五项总体建议，以解决健康相关不确定性文献中的空白。我们提出了一个与酒精使用特定背景下健康相关不确定性的案例研究，以展示这些空白，并为建议提供背景。五项关于健康相关不确定性的建议包括：（1）使用通用、一致的术语来讨论不确定性；（2）澄清对不确定性反应的个体差异的衡量标准；（3）增加对不确定性和影响的研究；（4）研究不确定性传播渠道的影响；（5）制定基于理论的干预措施以改善不确定性管理。最后，我们回顾了存在健康相关不确定性的健康背景，并指出我们的建议如何补充现有的综述和数据。
