How knowledge of future disease influences subjective well-being
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Attitudes towards HD genetic testing and consequences of testing on subjective well-being
IRAS ID
170362
Contact name
S Botti
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London Business School
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
We hypothesize that knowing about one’s own future, especially if this future is unpleasant and unchangeable, is not beneficial to individual subjective well-being contrary to individuals' own beliefs. Specifically, relative to those who do not know about an unpleasant future experience, individuals who know in advance about an unpleasant future experience: (1) report lower subjective well-being and personal control before the future experience has occurred; (2) do not report greater subjective well-being, ability to cope, and personal control after the experience has occurred.In the case of genetic testing for HD disease, people often want to take the genetic test even if HD cannot be avoided, because they believe they can make the best of the time they have before the disease ensues, they can better cope with the disease after it ensues, they can make better decisions, and overall they can feel more in control of their lives. However, these beliefs may prove wrong. We predict that if the genetic test is positive for the gene mutation, knowledge of future development of HD brings lower life satisfaction, life enjoyment, and perception of personal control in advance of the disease, and either equal or lower life satisfaction, enjoyment, and control after the disease. We plan to distribute surveys both to patients considering taking the genetic test for HD and to patients who tested positive for HD and ask their attitude towards getting tested, self report of positive and negative emotions, life activities, perception of control, and coping strategies before and after the onset of the symptoms. We plan to compare results across different groups of patients, for example those who took a diagnostic test versus those who took a predictive test.
REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
15/WA/0263
Date of REC Opinion
24 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion