Relationships between online health information seeking and psychopathology

Berle, David; Starčević, Vladan; Khazaal, Yasser; Viswasam, Kirupamani; Hede, Vincent; McMullan, Ryan

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.04.006

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The most common reasons for visiting medical websites are seeking advice or information on symptoms, medical conditions, or treatments [7, 8] and discussing health concerns with others [9]. Presence of somatic symptoms is particularly associated with recent health-related Internet searches [10]. The feeling of anonymity on the Internet [11] may facilitate searches, queries, and discussions about stigmatized topics [12-14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compulsive Health-Related Internet Use and Cyberchondria

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Cyberchondria denotes excessive and repeated online health-related searches associated with an increase in health anxiety. Such searches persist in those with cyberchondria, despite the negative consequences, resembling a pattern of compulsive Internet use. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess compulsive health-related Internet use in relation to cyberchondria while controlling for related variables. Method: Adult participants (N = 749) were recruited from an online platform. They completed questionnaires assessing the severity of cyberchondria (via the Cyberchondria Severity Scale [CSS]), compulsive Internet use adapted for online health-related seeking (via the adapted Compulsive Internet Use Scale [CIUS]), and levels of intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety, as well as depressive, somatic, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. A logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify predictors of scores above a cutoff value on the CIUS, indicating compulsive health-related Internet use. Results: The regression output showed that only the CSS total score and sex made a unique, statistically significant contribution to the model, leading to the correct classification of 78.6% of the cases. Of the CSS subscales, compulsion and distress were the most strongly associated with compulsive health-related Internet use. Conclusions: The finding that the adapted CIUS scores are associated with cyberchondria indicates that cyberchondria has a compulsive component, at least in terms of health-related Internet use. It also suggests that compulsive health-related Internet use persists despite the distress associated with this activity. Males may engage in cyberchondria more compulsively than females. These findings have implications for research and clinical practice.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compulsive Health-Related Internet Use and Cyberchondria

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Pain catastrophizing may amplify the negative affect and may contribute to the initiation of the cyberchondria-specific vicious circle, as postulated by Starcevic and Berle [ 14 ]. Further support is provided by logistic regression analysis that aims to predict engaging in health-related internet use by psychopathologies and somatic symptoms [ 5 ] and comprises data from 992 adults from the general population of whom, 751 (75.7%) reported engaging in health-related internet uses in the past 3 months. It was shown that conducting health-related internet uses was associated with HA, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and intolerance of uncertainty (among other psychopathologies); however, only the severity of somatic symptoms independently predicted health-related internet use when each of these pathological domains was controlled for.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is increasingly being used to research health-related questions. Approximately 60% to 80% of internet users search the web for health-related information [ 3 - 5 ]. Of all internet search queries, 2% have medical content [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizations of Cyberchondria and Relations to the Anxiety Spectrum: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Schenkel¹,

Jungmann²,

Gropalis³

et al. 2021

J Med Internet Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Cyberchondria describes the detrimental effects of health-related internet use. Current conceptualizations agree that cyberchondria is associated with anxiety-related pathologies and may best be conceptualized as a safety behavior; however, little is known about its exact underlying mechanisms. Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to give an overview of the conceptualizations of cyberchondria and its relation to anxiety-related pathologies, quantify the strength of association to health anxiety by using meta-analyses, highlight gaps in the literature, and outline a hypothetical integrative cognitive-behavioral model of cyberchondria based on the available empirical evidence. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO electronic databases. A total of 25 studies were included for qualitative synthesis and 7 studies, comprising 3069 individuals, were included for quantitative synthesis. The meta-analysis revealed a strong association of cyberchondria (r=0.63) and its subfacets (r=0.24-0.66) with health anxiety. Results The results indicate that cyberchondria is a distinct construct related to health anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety sensitivity. Further studies should distinguish between state and trait markers of anxiety-related pathologies and use experimental and naturalistic longitudinal designs to differentiate among risk factors, triggers, and consequences related to cyberchondria. Conclusions Health-related internet use in the context of health anxiety is best conceptualized as health-related safety behavior maintained through intermittent reinforcement. Here, we present a corresponding integrative cognitive-behavioral model.

show abstract

“…Nonetheless, there is more evidence in the literature that health-related research on the Internet increases health anxiety due to technology use. The concept of cyberchondria, which is associated with definitions such as searching for health information online or on the Internet, online health research, health-related use of the Internet, and increased use of the Internet for self-diagnosis, is basically described as the behavior of doing too much and repetitive research on the internet to ease health-related stress and anxiety (Berle et al, 2007;Mubeen & Tayyaba, 2020;Muse et al, 2012;Tyrer et al, 2019). In contrast to these views, there is also evidence in the literature that patients can be successful in managing their diseases if the accurate information is accessed via the Internet (Barlow, Stapley, Ellard & Gilchrist, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the Relationship of Technology Use With Health Literacy and Health Anxiety in Adults

Özkan

İnal

2022

İnönü Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksek Okulu Dergisi

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With the technological advancements, the domains in which technology is used are also gradually increasing. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship of technology use with health literacy and health anxiety. The research was conducted with 228 individuals, 116 females and 112 males, with a mean age of 42.66±16.63 years, aged 18-65. In the study, the Sociodemographic Information Form, Technology Usage Scale (TUS), Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ), and The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) were used. It was found that the total score of TUS was positively and weakly correlated with the total score of HLQ and HLQ-1 (access to information), HLQ-2 (understanding information), HLQ-3 (appraising/evaluating), HLS-4 (applying/using) (r=0.326, p

show abstract

Relationships between online health information seeking and psychopathology

Cited by 16 publications

References 11 publications

Compulsive Health-Related Internet Use and Cyberchondria

Compulsive Health-Related Internet Use and Cyberchondria

Conceptualizations of Cyberchondria and Relations to the Anxiety Spectrum: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Investigation of the Relationship of Technology Use With Health Literacy and Health Anxiety in Adults

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About