Journal of personality and social psychology
-
This study investigated the relationship of preoperative level of fear, extent of information seeking (coping), and amount of information received about surgery to recovery from surgery. It was hypothesized that a curvilinear relationship would be found between level of preoperative fear and recovery and between extent of information seeking and recovery; it was also hypothesized that amount of preoperative information obtained would interact with extent of information seeking. The subjects were 57 female patients between the ages of 18 and 68 who were schedule for abdominal surgery. ⋯ Results showed a linear relationship between level of preoperative fear and recovery, with the least favorable recovery associated with high levels of preoperative fear. A significant interaction was found between level of preoperative fear and amount of preoperative information, with high-fear subjects who reported little preoperative information experiencing the least favorable recovery period. The findings are discussed in terms of the parallel response model proposed by Leventhal.