engleski

When anxiety senstitivity and health anxiety meet Dr. Google frequently: The pathogenesis of cyberchondria

Seeking health information on-line has become an increasingly common behaviour. Despite the many benefits of easily accessible health information on the Internet, a growing number of studies have begun to shed light on the phenomenon of anxious reactions after searching for health information on the Internet, popularly known as cyberchondria. Recent research has also attempted to identify risk factors for developing such reactions. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between anxiety sensitivity, health anxiety and the frequency of on-line information seeking with negative emotional reactions to on-line health information. For this purpose, 1084 participants aged 18-71 years completed an on-line survey consisting of demographic data, the Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ ; Luckok&Morley, 1996), the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI ; Reiss & al ; 1987) and The Scale of Negative Emotional Outcomes to Internet use for Health information (Jokić-Begić at al., 2016). The results demonstrate that individuals who often seek health information on the Internet have higher levels of anxiety sensitivity and health anxiety, and experience more unpleasant emotional reactions to on-line health information. Health anxiety and anxiety sensitivity are also related to the use of specialized health portals, forums and health related groups. The results of the current study suggest that the frequency of information seeking, anxiety sensitivity and health anxiety have significant predictive value in explaining negative emotional reactions to on-line health information. The implications of these findings will be discussed.

cyberchondria, anxiety sensitivity, health anxiety

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