Unravelling moderated mediating effects of loss aversion, information avoidance and self-efficacy on cancer fear and cancer screening.

Background: Cancer health campaigns provide information to drive early detection.

Objective: To examine the effect of cancer fear on cancer screening focusing on the mediating role of loss aversion, a concept derived from prospect theory. We hypothesize that fear initiates negative beliefs that cancer can cause the loss of way of life leading to information avoidance, and indirectly influences cancer screening intentions. This theoretical model is conditional, in that one's degree of self-efficacy moderates cancer screening intentions.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample (N = 371), aged 35 to 70, recruited via an online panel. Participants completed a questionnaire containing demographic and examined variables. Using conditional process, we tested the proposed theoretical framework.

Results: Cancer fear was positively associated with cancer screening, and an indirect path was found where loss aversion and information avoidance negatively mediated the relationship. Self-efficacy was found to significantly moderate information avoidance and cancer screening intentions. Among those who reported high information avoidance, less self-efficacious individuals had lower cancer screening intentions compared to those more self-efficacious.

Conclusion: We confirm extant literature that negative views of cancer lead to loss aversion and information avoidance. Using prospect theory can help make messaging for cancer screening more effective.