Laura E. Miller

Relational Uncertainty and Message Processing in Marriage

We theorized that relational uncertainty fosters a pessimism bias that leads spouses to process messages negatively. We conducted a study in which 125 couples engaged in videotaped conversations. Although participants reported modest levels of relational uncertainty, our results were consistent with our predictions. Relational uncertainty predicted individuals’ judgments of the affiliation, dominance, and involvement of their partners messages (H1, H2), but it was not associated with the perceptions of outside observers (RQ1). Relational uncertainty was positively associated with spouses’ appraisals of the self threat and relationship threat of conversation (H3, H4) and their feelings of negative emotion (H5). Hence, spouses experiencing mild relational uncertainty may be reactive to conversations that seem ordinary to outside observers.

Putative secrets: When information is supposedly a secret

Secrets are common within relationships. Sometimes, unbeknownst to a secret keeper, a relational partner learns a secret but allows the keeper to believe that the secret is still unknown. This article summarizes two investigations of such instances, which we call putative secrets. Study 1 (N = 207) provided a descriptive base of putative secret topics, means by which secrets are kept, and perceived reasons for keeping secrets. Study 2 (N = 383) found that the relational impact of putative secrets depended on the secret topic, individuals’ perceptions of the topic, the ways the secret was kept, and the perceived reasons for keeping the secret. There were also theoretically interesting interactions among the reasons for keeping the secret.

Uncertainty Management and Information Seeking in Cancer Survivorship

Uncertainty is a common experience among people coping with chronic illness. For many individuals, managing information is used as a means of coping with illness-related uncertainty. In-depth interviews with 60 cancer survivors and partners were conducted. Many of the participants in this study reported feeling uncertain about the challenges awaiting them in cancer survivorship and reported experiencing various information behaviors and challenges relating to their uncertainty management. These results have important implications for health care providers and imply that continued care and information provision, after cancer treatment is complete, would facilitate adaptive survivorship.

Teasing Among College Men and Women

To explore potential sex differences in the teasing of late adolescents, 95 men and 111 women indicated the frequency, impetus for, and impact of their typical teasing experiences. Teasing was common; both sexes reported that it occurred at least once or twice a week. Teasing occurs primarily for fun, for bonding, to cheer others up, and to show liking, although there was also an occasionally competitive element to mens teasing episodes. Instigating teasing with the other sex occurs frequently for the purpose of flirting. Although men evaluated the impact of teasing as positive in all conditions, women responded favorably when teased by a man and neutrally when teased by a woman. Teasing appears to be an important form of bonding and flirting among college students of both sexes.

“People Don't Understand That It Is Not Easy Being a Cancer Survivor”: Communicating and Negotiating Identity Throughout Cancer Survivorship

Identity challenges among people coping with illness have been widely recognized in the literature and much of this work specifically highlights the changing nature of patients’ identities throughout an illness experience. The current study bolsters research on identity in illness by focusing on how cancer survivors and their partners communicate about identity after treatment completion. Exploring individuals’ experiences with identity after cancer treatment provides a unique context in which to study how illness-related identities may shift even after illness is out of the body. One-on-one interviews with 35 cancer survivors and 25 partners were conducted. Participants reported having three potentially different identities that may shift throughout survivorship: old (precancer) identity, patient (during treatment) identity, and new (postcancer) identity. Survivors also described a number of challenges and strategies relating to their identity-related conversations with social network members. Results are discussed in terms of the communicative, relational, and practical implications these data have on the complicated and changing aspects of identity throughout cancer survivorship.

Young Breast Cancer Survivors’ Experiences of Uncertainty

Evidence indicates recent increases in breast cancer diagnoses among young women. Research also suggests that younger women diagnosed with breast cancer may experience more psychological distress than older women. In-depth interviews with 25 breast cancer survivors age 40 and under were conducted to explore the uncertainties young women face throughout survivorship. Results indicate that young women experience unique sources of uncertainty and that communication may facilitate or hinder the management of uncertainty across the survivorship trajectory. Implications of these findings for theorizing on uncertainty, healthcare providers’ interactions with young women, and social networks’ communication with survivors are discussed. These data also have important implications for the practical treatment of young breast cancer survivors and applied, communicative recommendations for providers are proposed.

Communication dilemmas in the context of cancer: survivors' and partners' strategies for communicating throughout survivorship.

More people are now living longer beyond cancer treatment and are facing the complexities associated with survivorship. Communicating amid a cancer experience, for example, can be difficult for couples, and survivors must face these challenges for extended periods of time. The current study employed a communication perspective to explore couples’ conversations throughout cancer survivorship. In-depth interviews with 35 cancer survivors and 25 partners yielded insight into the specific communicative challenges couples face after completing cancer treatment. The data highlight cancers lingering uncertainties and are discussed in terms of the dyadic challenges inherent in couples’ communicative efforts.

Perceptions and Portrayals of Skin Cancer among Cultural Subgroups

Health communication scholars have a responsibility to be certain that both healthcare practitioners and government agencies accurately communicate health information to the public. In order to carry out this duty, health communication scholars must assess how messages are being received and if they are being received at all by the public. This paper details a two part study which assesses this phenomenon within the context of skin cancer. Study 1 utilized 29 in depth qualitative interviews to identify subcultures among college students whose communication puts them at risk for skin cancer by encouraging poor sun exposure behaviors. The results indicate that farmers, African Americans, and individuals who regularly participate in outdoor athletics are at risk groups. Study 2 reports a content analysis of the known population of skin cancer Public Service Announcements (PSAs) available via the internet in 2013. The aforementioned groups were not present in any of the PSAs. Detailed results and implications are discussed.

Health-Information Behavior: An Initial Validity Portfolio for Active and Passive Measures

The study of information-seeking behaviors takes on particular importance when considered within the health context, where the process of information seeking can save lives. When individuals implement preventative health-care behaviors in the present, they increase the probability of saving their own lives in the future. However, the benefits of preventative health-care behaviors are irrelevant when the public is unaware of such information. Current literature indicates that there are two types of information behavior: active and passive. Active information behavior involves intentional physical behaviors, while passive is comprised of strictly psychological, sometimes unintentional, processes. The following article reports the initial validity portfolio for measures of both active and passive information behavior.

“Pain Is What the Patient Says It Is” Nurse–Patient Communication, Information Seeking, and Pain Management

Nurse–patient conversations about pain management are complex. Given recent increases in prescription pain pill abuse, such interactions merit scholarly attention. In-depth interviews with 21 nurses were conducted to explicitly explore nurses’ information seeking about pain. The participants in this study gathered pain information from patients through a variety of means and reported facing challenges and dilemmas when communicating with patients about pain management and medicinal preferences. These results have important implications for nurses, patient outcomes, and the broader health-care system and imply that continued educational and intervention efforts are essential in this complicated communicative context.