"I Don't Know Who Everyone's Been Around"…"and if You Ask, it's Like Stepping on Glass": Applying & Expanding the Tripartite Model of Uncertainty in the Novel Coronavirus Era.

Uncertainty is a central feature of the novel coronavirus era and a primary cause of stress and anxiety. Understanding the uncertainties that people are experiencing is important to provide support and help them cope; it is also a valuable opportunity to contribute to health communication theory. Guided by the Tripartite Model of Uncertainty (TMU), this project was designed to examine different forms of uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic created. Interviews were conducted with 62 individuals. Findings provide some support for the TMU, in that medical and personal uncertainty were salient to people's lives during the pandemic. Findings also indicated prospects for expanding the TMU to reflect (a) systems uncertainty and (b) deeply intertwined medical-social uncertainties that may be unique to this particular type of health crisis.