The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): German Validation and Development of a Short Form

Barke, Antonia; Bleichhardt, Gaby; Rief, Winfried; Doering, Bettina K.

doi:10.1007/s12529-016-9549-8

Cited by 123 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The first meta-analysis included 10 studies (Baumgartner & Hartmann, 2011;Doherty-Torstrick, Walton, & Fallon, 2016;Fergus, 2013;Fergus & Dolan, 2014;Lagoe & Atkin, 2015;Lee & Hawkins, 2016;Muse, McManus, Leung, Meghreblian, & Williams, 2012;Singh & Brown, 2014;Singh & Brown, 2016;Tanis, Hartmann, & te Poel, 2016). The second meta-analysis also included 10 studies (Bajcar et al, 2018;Barke, Bleichhardt, Rief, & Doering, 2016;Fergus, 2014;Fergus, 2015;Fergus & Russell, 2016;Fergus & Spada, 2017;Mathes, Norr, Allan, Albanese, & Schmidt, 2018;Norr, Albanese, Oglesby, Allan, & Schmidt, 2015;Selvi et al, 2018). An overview of the included studies is shown in Table 1.…”

Section: Search Results and Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the strength of associations reported in the present review rely on the validity and reliability of this measure, which has been criticized for taking a broad approach to cyberchondria by including items that may be irrelevant and non-specific (Starcevic & Berle, 2015). Additionally, the original five-factor structure for this instrument has been called into question because one subscale (i.e., mistrust of medical professionals) has been found to have poor model fit (e.g., Barke, Bleichhardt, Rief, & Doering, 2016;Fergus, 2014). Second, most of the studies relied upon self-report as a measure of online health information searching.…”

Section: Despite Finding An Association Between Health Anxiety and Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking, and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta-analysis

McMullan

Berle

Arnáez

et al. 2019

Journal of Affective Disorders

251

159

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Background: Cyberchondria refers to an abnormal behavioral pattern in which excessive or repeated online searches for health-related information are distressing or anxiety-provoking.Health anxiety has been found to be associated with both online health information seeking and cyberchondria. The aims of the present systematic review and meta-analysis were to examine the magnitude of these associations and identify any moderator variables.Methods: A systematic literature search was performed across several databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase) and reference lists of included studies.Results: Twenty studies were included across two independent meta-analyses, with 7373 participants. Random effects meta-analyses showed that there was a positive correlation between health anxiety and online health information seeking [r = 0.34, 95% CI (0.20, 0.48), p < .0001], and between health anxiety and cyberchondria [r = 0.62, 95% CI (0.52, 0.71), p < .0001]. A meta-regression indicated that the age of study participants [Q(1) = 4.58, p = .03] was partly responsible for the heterogeneity found for the relationship between health anxiety and cyberchondria. Limitations:The generalizability and validity of our findings are restricted by the methodological limitations of the primary studies, namely, an over-reliance on a single measure of cyberchondria, the Cyberchondria Severity Scale. Conclusions:Our review found a positive correlation between health anxiety and online health information seeking, and between health anxiety and cyberchondria. Further research should aim to explore the contexts for these associations as well as address the identified limitations of the extant literature.

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Section: Search Results and Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Despite Finding An Association Between Health Anxiety and Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking, and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta-analysis

McMullan

Berle

Arnáez

et al. 2019

Journal of Affective Disorders

251

159

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, in the German validation study, the internal consistency of the scale was found to be α= .93 and split-half reliability to be α= .95. The 'Mistrust of Medical Professional' subscale had relatively low internal reliability (α = .74) similar in the initial validation even if it was acceptable (Barke, Bleichhardt, Rief, & Doering, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): Validity and Reliability Study of the Turkish Version

Selvı¹,

Turan²,

Sayin³

et al. 2018

Sleep Hypn

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Objective: Even though the internet is a valuable resource for medical information, it has the potential to increase anxiety, fear or obsessive-compulsive behaviours, particularly among individuals more prone to health related anxiety. Researchers have found that health anxiety, hypochondria, and online health searches are associated with increased anxious symptomatology. The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale, a measure of online health anxiety. Method: Three hundred thirty-seven university students with an age range of 16-55 were included in the study. The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS), Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory-3 (ASI-3), and Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) were administered to participants. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that five-factor solution best fit to the data. The overall and subscales of the CSS had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.91, for the overall measure, and Cronbach α values ranged from 0.78 to 0.87), with an exception of 'mistruct of medical professional' subscale (Cronbach α = 0.64). The total and subscales of the CSS had generally good convergent validity. Conclusion: The CSS is a newly developed screening tool to assess online health anxiety, and present study demonstrated that the Turkish version of the scale had promising psychometric properties.

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“…This instrument has been criticised for being too broad, encompassing items that are not necessarily relevant or specific for cyberchondria and giving cyberchondria almost a status of a disorder, with its subscales and dimensions resembling the diagnostic criteria [2]. The Cyberchondria Severity Scale also has some psychometric deficiencies in that its original five-factor structure could not be confirmed, with a suggestion that one of its subscales, mistrust of medical professionals, should be omitted [25,26,27]. All this calls for the development of a refined assessment tool for cyberchondria and longitudinal, prospective studies conducted in various populations, including clinical samples.…”

Section: Outlook For the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Cyberchondria: Challenges of Problematic Online Searches for Health-Related Information

Starčević¹

2017

Psychother Psychosom

156

136

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The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): German Validation and Development of a Short Form

Abstract: The German version of the CSS possesses very good psychometric characteristics, which were preserved in a short version. The factorial structure was replicated. The correlations with health anxiety and depression for both scales underscore their validity and clinical relevance.

Cited by 123 publications

References 34 publications

The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking, and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta-analysis

The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking, and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta-analysis

The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): Validity and Reliability Study of the Turkish Version

Cyberchondria: Challenges of Problematic Online Searches for Health-Related Information

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