Volume 22, Issue 4 (11-2023)
TB 2023, 22(4): 59-73 |
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TabeBordbar F, ESMAEILI M, KESAAVARZI Z. The Relationship between Health Literacy and Cyberchondria Based on the Mediating Role of Health Anxiety. TB 2023; 22 (4) :59-73
URL: http://tbj.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-3494-en.html
URL: http://tbj.ssu.ac.ir/article-1-3494-en.html
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran , Esmaeilimasomeh@yahoo.com
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The Relationship between Health Literacy and Cyberchondria Based on the Mediating Role of Health Anxiety
Fariba Tabe Bordbar(Ph.D.)1, Masoumeh Esmaili(Ph.D.)2, zeynabkeshavarz(M.Sc.)3
1.Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
2.Corresponding author: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Email: m.esmaeilii2022@pnu.ac.ir Tel:09309477626
3.Master of General Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction: The Internet is a neutral tool which was initially used to facilitate research in scientific and military institutions, but now it has affected mental health of society. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between health literacy and cyberchondria in women with the mediating role of health anxiety.
Methods: The current research method was descriptive-correlational and based on structural equations. Using convenience sampling method, 300 women from Shiraz city were selected as a statistical sample, taking into account the criteria for entering and exiting the research. Data collection was done using McElree and Shelvin's cyberchondria questionnaires, Salkoskis and Warwick's health anxiety questionnaires , and Montazeri et al.'s health literacy questionnaires . Descriptive data analysis and hypothesis testing were done by structural equation method with path analysis approach and using SPSS and Amos software.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant and direct relationship between health literacy and cyberchondria (p=0/05 and β =0/15) and between health anxiety and cyberchondria (p=0/0005 and β =0/60) at 0/001. By entering health anxiety as a mediating variable into the model, an indirect relationship between health literacy and cybercrime was obtained (p=0/0005 and β=0/30).
Conclusion: Considering that more than half of the people have insufficient health literacy, it is necessary to design and implement effective interventions to empower them regarding health literacy. Moreover, it is necessary to provide people with newer methods such as online education in order to obtain more health information.
Keywords: Health Anxiety, Cyberchondria, Health Literacy, Women.
References
1-Mento C, Silvestri MC, Lombardo C & etal. Who Believes in Fake News: A Study on the Relationship between Affective Temperament, Cyberchondria and Problematic Use of the Internet during the COVID-19 Pandemic. OBM Neurobiology.2023;7(1):1-16.
2-Wollan M. How to Look Up Medical Information Online.The New York Times.2018; October 10
3-Lee HY, Jin SW,Henning-Smith C & etal. Role of health literacy in health-related information-seeking behavior online Cross-sectional study.Journal of Medical Internet Research.2021;23(1): e14088
4-Finney Rutten LJ, Blake K D, Greenberg-WorisekA J & etal.Online health information seeking among US adults measuring progress toward a healthy people 2020 objective. Public Health Reports.2019;134(6): 617-625
5-Prescott C. Internet users in the UK, London UK.The Office for National Statistics.2017
6-Moreland J, French TL, Cumming G P. The prevalence of online health information seeking among patients in Scotland: a cross-sectional exploratory study,JMIR research protocols.2018; 4(3): e4010
7-Heshmati K, Reisi S, Taheri A & etal. The prevalence of Cyberchondria during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A cross-sectional study among a sample of Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. Shenakht Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry .2021; 8 (4) :63-74.[Persian]
8-Bajcar B, Babia J. Self-esteem and cyberchondria The mediation effects of health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in a community sample. Current Psychology. 2021;40: 2820-2831
9-Bati AH, Mandiracioglu A, Govsa F & etal. Health anxiety and cyberchondria among Ege University health science students.Nurse education today.2018; 71: 169-173
10-Vejmelka L, Matković R. Online interactions and problematic internet use of croatian students during the covid-19 pandemic. Information.2021; 12(10): 399
11-Morrison DA, Riley CA, Tolisano AM. Assessing the impact of military service on patient health literacy in an otolaryngology clinic.Military medicine .2023;188(1-2):e333-e338.
12-Turkistani A, Mashaikhi A, Bajaber A & etal.The prevalence of cyberchondria and the impact of social media among the students in Taif University.International Journal of Medicine in Developing Countries.2020;4(11): 1759-1765
13- Diamond P R, Dysch L, Daniels J. Health anxiety in stroke survivors: a cross-sectional study on the prevalence of health anxiety in stroke survivors and its impact on quality of life,Disability and Rehabilitation.2023; 45(1): 27-33
14-Sweller J.Cognitive load theory.In Psychology of learning and motivation,Academic Press.2011; 37-76
15-McMullan R D, Berle D, Arnáez S & etal. The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta analysis. Journal of affective disorders.2019;245:270-27
16-Norr AM, Allan NP, Boffa JW & etal. Validation of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): replication and extension with bifactor modeling.Journal of anxiety disorders.2015;58-64
17-SelviY, Turan SG, Sayin A & etal.The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): Validity and reliability study of the Turkish version. Sleep and Hypnosis (Online). 2018;20(4): 241-246
18-Fergus T A, Russell L H. Does cyberchondria overlap with health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms? An examination of latent structure and scale interrelations,Journal of anxiety disorders.2016;38: 88-94
19-Nadeem F, Malik NI, Atta M & etal.Relationship between health-anxiety and cyberchondria: Role of metacognitive beliefs.Journal of Clinical Medicine.2022; 11(9): 2590
20-Sarafaraz M R, Porschehbazi M, Afshari M. Determining the psychometric properties of the cyberchondria severity scale in the Iranian adult population. Clinical Psychology. 2019;12(3): 67-76.[persian]
21-Slavčić Lea. Internet using characteristics and perfectionism as predictors for cyberchondria.Diploma Thesis Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu Department of Psychology.2012
22- Jungmann SM, Witthöft M. Health anxiety cyberchondria and coping in the current COVID-19 pandemic: Which factors are related to coronavirus anxiety?Journal of anxiety disorders. 2018;73: 102239
23-Nargesi F, Izadi F, Kariminejad K & etal. Checking the reliability and validity of the Persian version of health anxiety questionnaire among students of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Educational Measurement.2016;7(27): 147-160.[persian]
24-Montazeri A, Tawasi M, Rokhshani F & etal. Design and psychometrics of an instrument to measure the health of the urban population of Iran Paish Journal.2013;13(5):598-600.[Persian]
25-Mahmoudiani S, Qaidi K, Rajabi M.The effect of health literacy on health-oriented behaviors against the corona virus in Shiraz city. Letter of Iran Demographic Association. 2022;16(32): 363-385.[Persian]
26-Van Hoa H, Giang HT, Vu PT & etal. Factors associated with health literacy among the elderly people in Vietnam. BioMed research international. 2020;13(1):14-20
27-Niu Z, WilloughbyJ, Zhou R. Associations of Health LiteracySocial Media Use and Self-Efficacy With Health Information–Seeking Intentions Among Social Media Users in China Cross-sectional Survey.Journal of medical Internet research.2021; 23(2): e19134
28-Neter E, Brainin Ee.Health literacy: extending the digital divide to the realm of health information.Journal of medical Internet research.2021;14(1): e19
29-StarcevicV, Baggio S, Berle D & etal. Cyberchondria and its relationships with related constructs: a network analysis Psychiatric quarterly.2019;90(3): 491-505
30-Doherty E,Torstrick R, Walton KE & etal. Cyberchondria parsing health anxiety from online behavior.Psychosomatics 2016; 57(4): 390-400
31-Axelsson E, Hedman-Lagerlöf E. Cognitive behavior therapy for health anxiety: systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical efficacy and health economic outcomes. Expert review of pharmacoeconomics & outcomes research.2019;19(6): 663-676
32-Khaleel I, Wimmer BC, Peterson GM & etal. Health information overload among health consumers: A scoping review,Patient education and counseling.2020;103(1): 15-32
33-Karabeliova S, Ivanova E. Do Personality Traits Lead to Cyberchondria and What are the Outcomes for Well-being?European Health Psychologist.2014; 16(S): 782
Fariba Tabe Bordbar(Ph.D.)1, Masoumeh Esmaili(Ph.D.)2, zeynabkeshavarz(M.Sc.)3
1.Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
2.Corresponding author: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Email: m.esmaeilii2022@pnu.ac.ir Tel:09309477626
3.Master of General Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction: The Internet is a neutral tool which was initially used to facilitate research in scientific and military institutions, but now it has affected mental health of society. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between health literacy and cyberchondria in women with the mediating role of health anxiety.
Methods: The current research method was descriptive-correlational and based on structural equations. Using convenience sampling method, 300 women from Shiraz city were selected as a statistical sample, taking into account the criteria for entering and exiting the research. Data collection was done using McElree and Shelvin's cyberchondria questionnaires, Salkoskis and Warwick's health anxiety questionnaires , and Montazeri et al.'s health literacy questionnaires . Descriptive data analysis and hypothesis testing were done by structural equation method with path analysis approach and using SPSS and Amos software.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant and direct relationship between health literacy and cyberchondria (p=0/05 and β =0/15) and between health anxiety and cyberchondria (p=0/0005 and β =0/60) at 0/001. By entering health anxiety as a mediating variable into the model, an indirect relationship between health literacy and cybercrime was obtained (p=0/0005 and β=0/30).
Conclusion: Considering that more than half of the people have insufficient health literacy, it is necessary to design and implement effective interventions to empower them regarding health literacy. Moreover, it is necessary to provide people with newer methods such as online education in order to obtain more health information.
Keywords: Health Anxiety, Cyberchondria, Health Literacy, Women.
References
1-Mento C, Silvestri MC, Lombardo C & etal. Who Believes in Fake News: A Study on the Relationship between Affective Temperament, Cyberchondria and Problematic Use of the Internet during the COVID-19 Pandemic. OBM Neurobiology.2023;7(1):1-16.
2-Wollan M. How to Look Up Medical Information Online.The New York Times.2018; October 10
3-Lee HY, Jin SW,Henning-Smith C & etal. Role of health literacy in health-related information-seeking behavior online Cross-sectional study.Journal of Medical Internet Research.2021;23(1): e14088
4-Finney Rutten LJ, Blake K D, Greenberg-WorisekA J & etal.Online health information seeking among US adults measuring progress toward a healthy people 2020 objective. Public Health Reports.2019;134(6): 617-625
5-Prescott C. Internet users in the UK, London UK.The Office for National Statistics.2017
6-Moreland J, French TL, Cumming G P. The prevalence of online health information seeking among patients in Scotland: a cross-sectional exploratory study,JMIR research protocols.2018; 4(3): e4010
7-Heshmati K, Reisi S, Taheri A & etal. The prevalence of Cyberchondria during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A cross-sectional study among a sample of Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. Shenakht Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry .2021; 8 (4) :63-74.[Persian]
8-Bajcar B, Babia J. Self-esteem and cyberchondria The mediation effects of health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in a community sample. Current Psychology. 2021;40: 2820-2831
9-Bati AH, Mandiracioglu A, Govsa F & etal. Health anxiety and cyberchondria among Ege University health science students.Nurse education today.2018; 71: 169-173
10-Vejmelka L, Matković R. Online interactions and problematic internet use of croatian students during the covid-19 pandemic. Information.2021; 12(10): 399
11-Morrison DA, Riley CA, Tolisano AM. Assessing the impact of military service on patient health literacy in an otolaryngology clinic.Military medicine .2023;188(1-2):e333-e338.
12-Turkistani A, Mashaikhi A, Bajaber A & etal.The prevalence of cyberchondria and the impact of social media among the students in Taif University.International Journal of Medicine in Developing Countries.2020;4(11): 1759-1765
13- Diamond P R, Dysch L, Daniels J. Health anxiety in stroke survivors: a cross-sectional study on the prevalence of health anxiety in stroke survivors and its impact on quality of life,Disability and Rehabilitation.2023; 45(1): 27-33
14-Sweller J.Cognitive load theory.In Psychology of learning and motivation,Academic Press.2011; 37-76
15-McMullan R D, Berle D, Arnáez S & etal. The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta analysis. Journal of affective disorders.2019;245:270-27
16-Norr AM, Allan NP, Boffa JW & etal. Validation of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): replication and extension with bifactor modeling.Journal of anxiety disorders.2015;58-64
17-SelviY, Turan SG, Sayin A & etal.The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): Validity and reliability study of the Turkish version. Sleep and Hypnosis (Online). 2018;20(4): 241-246
18-Fergus T A, Russell L H. Does cyberchondria overlap with health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms? An examination of latent structure and scale interrelations,Journal of anxiety disorders.2016;38: 88-94
19-Nadeem F, Malik NI, Atta M & etal.Relationship between health-anxiety and cyberchondria: Role of metacognitive beliefs.Journal of Clinical Medicine.2022; 11(9): 2590
20-Sarafaraz M R, Porschehbazi M, Afshari M. Determining the psychometric properties of the cyberchondria severity scale in the Iranian adult population. Clinical Psychology. 2019;12(3): 67-76.[persian]
21-Slavčić Lea. Internet using characteristics and perfectionism as predictors for cyberchondria.Diploma Thesis Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu Department of Psychology.2012
22- Jungmann SM, Witthöft M. Health anxiety cyberchondria and coping in the current COVID-19 pandemic: Which factors are related to coronavirus anxiety?Journal of anxiety disorders. 2018;73: 102239
23-Nargesi F, Izadi F, Kariminejad K & etal. Checking the reliability and validity of the Persian version of health anxiety questionnaire among students of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Educational Measurement.2016;7(27): 147-160.[persian]
24-Montazeri A, Tawasi M, Rokhshani F & etal. Design and psychometrics of an instrument to measure the health of the urban population of Iran Paish Journal.2013;13(5):598-600.[Persian]
25-Mahmoudiani S, Qaidi K, Rajabi M.The effect of health literacy on health-oriented behaviors against the corona virus in Shiraz city. Letter of Iran Demographic Association. 2022;16(32): 363-385.[Persian]
26-Van Hoa H, Giang HT, Vu PT & etal. Factors associated with health literacy among the elderly people in Vietnam. BioMed research international. 2020;13(1):14-20
27-Niu Z, WilloughbyJ, Zhou R. Associations of Health LiteracySocial Media Use and Self-Efficacy With Health Information–Seeking Intentions Among Social Media Users in China Cross-sectional Survey.Journal of medical Internet research.2021; 23(2): e19134
28-Neter E, Brainin Ee.Health literacy: extending the digital divide to the realm of health information.Journal of medical Internet research.2021;14(1): e19
29-StarcevicV, Baggio S, Berle D & etal. Cyberchondria and its relationships with related constructs: a network analysis Psychiatric quarterly.2019;90(3): 491-505
30-Doherty E,Torstrick R, Walton KE & etal. Cyberchondria parsing health anxiety from online behavior.Psychosomatics 2016; 57(4): 390-400
31-Axelsson E, Hedman-Lagerlöf E. Cognitive behavior therapy for health anxiety: systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical efficacy and health economic outcomes. Expert review of pharmacoeconomics & outcomes research.2019;19(6): 663-676
32-Khaleel I, Wimmer BC, Peterson GM & etal. Health information overload among health consumers: A scoping review,Patient education and counseling.2020;103(1): 15-32
33-Karabeliova S, Ivanova E. Do Personality Traits Lead to Cyberchondria and What are the Outcomes for Well-being?European Health Psychologist.2014; 16(S): 782
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Psychology
Received: 2023/03/16 | Accepted: 2023/06/26 | Published: 2023/11/11
Received: 2023/03/16 | Accepted: 2023/06/26 | Published: 2023/11/11
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