Responding to negative health events: A test of the Bad News Response Model

People can respond to bad news in a variety of ways. The Bad News Response Model suggests that three aspects of bad news (the controllability, likelihood, and severity of negative consequences) predict which response (Watchful Waiting, Active Change, or Acceptance) people are likely to choose. This article presents an initial test of the predictions of the Bad News Response Model. College students (N = 234) and older adults (N = 116) read a scenario about a person with a suspicious mole that varied in the controllability, likelihood, and severity of the outcomes. Consistent with our predictions, people prefer Watchful Waiting when controllability, likelihood, and severity are low, Active Change when controllability and likelihood are high, and Acceptance when controllability is low. These findings provide support for the Bad News Response Model and suggest that responses to bad news may be foreseeable based on the type of news people receive.