Cognitive dissonance in the process of stress coping: Front-line healthcare professionals' information anxiety during the public health emergency

Information anxiety is a series of complex emotional states, that information users experience during the process of acquiring and utilizing information due to external and internal factors. Public health emergencies have brought stress to healthcare professionals and thus caused serious information anxiety. However, the reason why they experience information anxiety when facing stressors has been ignored. This study aims to explore front-line healthcare professionals’ information anxiety during the public health emergency. A theoretical model was developed from the perspective of stress coping theory, and empirically tested with a sample of 164 front-line healthcare professionals. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the theoretical model. As a result, the stress coping process of stressors, appraisal, coping, and information anxiety has been confirmed. However, cognitive dissonance among front-line healthcare professionals in the process of stress coping was found during the public health emergency, which refers to the difficulty of front-line healthcare professionals in adopting effective coping strategies to alleviate information anxiety caused by stressors during the public health emergency. The evidence is that personal psychology does not exhibit a relationship with appraisal and information anxiety, and there is no significant relationship between information characteristic and appraisal. By testing the theoretical model, stress coping and cognitive dissonance are reasons for information anxiety among front-line healthcare professionals during the public health emergency. Therefore, reducing the cognitive load to assist healthcare professionals in stress coping is necessary. In addition, social environmental support through strengthening social identity and respect, and mental adjustment through cognitive structure and emotional regulation are suggested.