How Do Health Information Scanning and Seeking Influence Excessive Alcohol Drinking Among Chinese Hypertensive Drinkers? A Moderated Mediation Analysis.

China has a longstanding tradition of alcohol consumption, yet excessive drinking poses significant health risks, particularly for individuals with cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension. While existing literature indicates that both health information scanning and seeking behaviors can impact health beliefs and actions, their effects on alcohol prevention remain understudied. Utilizing data from a national survey in China, this study investigates the influence of health information scanning and seeking on alcohol risk knowledge and the frequency of excessive drinking among hypertensive drinkers. Results demonstrate that both health information scanning (b = -.018, p < .05) and seeking (b = -.030, p < .001) are negatively associated with excessive alcohol consumption indirectly through heightened awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer. However, health information scanning is positively linked to excessive drinking directly (b = .203, p < .01). Additionally, cancer information overload positively moderates the relationship between awareness of alcohol as a cancer risk factor and excessive drinking (b = .148, p < .001). Hypertensive drinkers who experience lower levels of cancer information overload are more inclined to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. These findings underscore the different roles of health information scanning and seeking on alcohol control. It is important to implement interventions aimed at encouraging active information seeking and mitigating information overload. Educational programs should be promoted to help high-risk groups accurately understand the risk of excessive drinking.