Research Article
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Investigating the Relationship Between Cyberchondria Level and Perceived Stress in Young Adults

Year 2022, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 176 - 184, 30.09.2022
https://doi.org/10.51972/tfsd.1112388

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cyberchondria level and perceived stress in young adults.
Material and Methods: This descriptive and relational study was conducted with 547 students studying at a university between September and November 2019. The data of the study were collected through the Personal Information Form, Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).
Results: It was determined that 92.1% of the students were in the age group of 18-24 years and 70.9% were female. 73.5% of the participants stated that they spend 1-5 hours a day on the internet, 31.8% stated that they always used the internet in health-related issues, and 17.4% stated that they believed to have an undiagnosed disease. It was found that PSS total mean score was 27.6±7.1 and CSS total mean score was 38.2±8.0.
Conclusion: A positive correlation was determined between the cyberchondria severity scale total score and the perceived stress scale total score.

Supporting Institution

YOK

Thanks

We thank all the participants who contributed to this study.

References

  • Altındiş, S., İnci, MB., Aslan, FG. et al. (2018). An Evaluation of cyberchondria levels and related factors in university employees. Sakarya Med J, 8(2), 359-370.
  • Barke, A., Bleichhardt, G., Rief, W. et al. (2016). The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): German validation and development of a short form. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 23(5), 595–605. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9549-8.
  • Batı, AH., Mandıracıoglu, A., Govsa, F. et al. (2018). Health anxiety and cyberchondria among Ege University health science students. Nurse Education Today, 71, 169-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.09.029
  • Batıgün, AD., Gör, N., Kömürcü, B. et al. (2018). Cyberchondria Scale (CS): Development, validity and reliability study. Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 31, 148-162. https://doi.org/10.5350/DAJPN2018310203
  • Cohen, S., Kamarch, T., Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385-396
  • Dagar, D., Kakodkar, P., Shetiya, SH. (2019). Evaluating the cyberchondria construct among computer engineering 2019 students in Pune (India) Using Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS-15). Indian J Occup Environ Med, 23(3), 117–120. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_217_19
  • Doherty-Torstrick, ER., Walton, KE., Fallon BB. (2016). Cyberchondria: Parsing Health Anxiety From Online Behavior. Psychosomatics, 57(4), 390-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2016.02.002
  • Elciyar, K., Taşçı, D. (2017). Application of Cyberchondria Severity Scale to the students of Anadolu University Communication Faculty. Abant Journal of Cultural Studies, 2(4), 57-70.
  • Ertaş, H., Kıraç, R., Ünal, SN. (2020). Study of cybercondria levels and related factors of Faculty of Health Sciences students. International Journal of Society Researches, 15(23), 1746-1764. https://doi.org/10.26466/opus.616396
  • Eskin, M., Harlak, H., Demirkıran, F. et al. (2013). The adaptation of the perceived Stress Scale into Turkish: A reliability and validity analysis. New Symposium Journal, 51(3), 132-140.
  • Fergus TA. (2013). Cyberchondria and intolerance of uncertainty: Examining when individuals experience health anxiety in response to internet searches for medical information. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social Networking, 16(10), 735-9. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0671
  • Fergus, TA., Spada, MM. (2017). Cyberchondria: Examining relations with problematic ınternet use and metacognitive beliefs. Clin Psychol Psychother, 24(6), 1322-1330. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2102
  • Gençer, AG., Karadere, ME., Okumuş, B. et al. (2018). Diagnoses that are not yet included in DSM-5 (Compulsive buying, misophonia, facebook jealousy, pagophagia, cyberchondria, internet addiction). Ç. Hocaoğlu (Ed.), DSM-5'in Yeni Tanıları (s. 87-96). Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri.
  • Gül, Aİ., Özdemir, T., Börekçi, E. (2016). Health anxiety levels in patients admitted to internal medicine outpatient clinic for several times. Journal of Clinical and Analytical Medicine, 7(4), 437-439. https://doi.org/10.4328/JCAM.2951
  • Hart, J., Björgvinsson, T. (2010). Health anxiety and hypochondriasis: Description and treatment issues highlighted through a case illustration. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 74(2), 122-140.
  • Hocaoğlu, Ç. (2015). A different hypochondriasis: A case report. Journal of Mood Disorders, 5(1), 36-39. https://doi.org/10.5455/jmood.20141119012438
  • Jungmann, SM., Brand, S., Kolb, J. et al. (2020). Do Dr. Google and health apps have (comparable) side effects? An experimental study. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(2), 306-317. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702621989638.
  • Jutel, A. (2017). "Dr. Google" and his predecessors. Diagnosis, 4(2), 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2016-0045
  • Lupton, D., Maslen, S. (2019). How women use digital technologies for health: Qualitative interview and focus group study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(1), e11481. https://doi.org/10.2196/11481
  • Makarla, S., Gopichandran, V., Tondare, D. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of cyberchondria among professionals working in the information technology sector in Chennai, India: A cross-sectional study. J Postgrad Med, 65(2), 87–92. https://doi.org/10.4103/jpgm.JPGM_293_18
  • McElroy, E., Shevlin, M. (2014). The development and initial validation of the cyberchondria severity scale (CSS). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 28(2), 259-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.007
  • Rice, RE. (2006). Influences, usage, and outcomes of internet health information searching: Multivariate results from the pew surveys. International Journal Of Medical İnformatics, 75(1), 8-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2005.07.032
  • Singh, K., Brown, R. J. (2016). From headache to tumour: An examination of health anxiety, health-related Internet use and 'query escalation'. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(9), 2008-2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315569620
  • Starcevic, V. (2017). Cyberchondria: Challenges of problematic online searches for health-related information. Psychother Psychosom, 86(3), 129-133. https://doi.org/10.1159/000465525
  • Starcevic, V., Berle, D. (2013). Cyberchondria: towards a better understanding of excessive health-related internet use. Expert Rev. Neurother, 13(2), 205-213. https://doi.org/ 10.1586/ern.12.162
  • Te Poel F., Baumgartner, SE., Hartmann, T. et al. (2016). Disorders The curious case of cyberchondria: A longitudinal study on thereciprocal relationship between health anxiety and online health information seeking M. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 43, 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.07.009
  • Uzun, SU., Zencir, M. (2018). Reliability and validity study of the Turkish version of Cyberchondria Severity Scale. Current Psychology, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0001-x
  • Wijesinghe, CA., Liyanage, ULNS., Kapugama, KGCL. et al. (2019). Muddling by googling Cyberchondria among outpatient attendees of two hospitals in Sri Lanka. J Psychiatry, 10(1), 11-15. https://doi.org/10.4038/sljpsyc.v10i1.8202
Year 2022, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 176 - 184, 30.09.2022
https://doi.org/10.51972/tfsd.1112388

Abstract

References

  • Altındiş, S., İnci, MB., Aslan, FG. et al. (2018). An Evaluation of cyberchondria levels and related factors in university employees. Sakarya Med J, 8(2), 359-370.
  • Barke, A., Bleichhardt, G., Rief, W. et al. (2016). The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): German validation and development of a short form. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 23(5), 595–605. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9549-8.
  • Batı, AH., Mandıracıoglu, A., Govsa, F. et al. (2018). Health anxiety and cyberchondria among Ege University health science students. Nurse Education Today, 71, 169-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.09.029
  • Batıgün, AD., Gör, N., Kömürcü, B. et al. (2018). Cyberchondria Scale (CS): Development, validity and reliability study. Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 31, 148-162. https://doi.org/10.5350/DAJPN2018310203
  • Cohen, S., Kamarch, T., Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385-396
  • Dagar, D., Kakodkar, P., Shetiya, SH. (2019). Evaluating the cyberchondria construct among computer engineering 2019 students in Pune (India) Using Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS-15). Indian J Occup Environ Med, 23(3), 117–120. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_217_19
  • Doherty-Torstrick, ER., Walton, KE., Fallon BB. (2016). Cyberchondria: Parsing Health Anxiety From Online Behavior. Psychosomatics, 57(4), 390-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2016.02.002
  • Elciyar, K., Taşçı, D. (2017). Application of Cyberchondria Severity Scale to the students of Anadolu University Communication Faculty. Abant Journal of Cultural Studies, 2(4), 57-70.
  • Ertaş, H., Kıraç, R., Ünal, SN. (2020). Study of cybercondria levels and related factors of Faculty of Health Sciences students. International Journal of Society Researches, 15(23), 1746-1764. https://doi.org/10.26466/opus.616396
  • Eskin, M., Harlak, H., Demirkıran, F. et al. (2013). The adaptation of the perceived Stress Scale into Turkish: A reliability and validity analysis. New Symposium Journal, 51(3), 132-140.
  • Fergus TA. (2013). Cyberchondria and intolerance of uncertainty: Examining when individuals experience health anxiety in response to internet searches for medical information. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social Networking, 16(10), 735-9. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0671
  • Fergus, TA., Spada, MM. (2017). Cyberchondria: Examining relations with problematic ınternet use and metacognitive beliefs. Clin Psychol Psychother, 24(6), 1322-1330. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2102
  • Gençer, AG., Karadere, ME., Okumuş, B. et al. (2018). Diagnoses that are not yet included in DSM-5 (Compulsive buying, misophonia, facebook jealousy, pagophagia, cyberchondria, internet addiction). Ç. Hocaoğlu (Ed.), DSM-5'in Yeni Tanıları (s. 87-96). Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri.
  • Gül, Aİ., Özdemir, T., Börekçi, E. (2016). Health anxiety levels in patients admitted to internal medicine outpatient clinic for several times. Journal of Clinical and Analytical Medicine, 7(4), 437-439. https://doi.org/10.4328/JCAM.2951
  • Hart, J., Björgvinsson, T. (2010). Health anxiety and hypochondriasis: Description and treatment issues highlighted through a case illustration. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 74(2), 122-140.
  • Hocaoğlu, Ç. (2015). A different hypochondriasis: A case report. Journal of Mood Disorders, 5(1), 36-39. https://doi.org/10.5455/jmood.20141119012438
  • Jungmann, SM., Brand, S., Kolb, J. et al. (2020). Do Dr. Google and health apps have (comparable) side effects? An experimental study. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(2), 306-317. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702621989638.
  • Jutel, A. (2017). "Dr. Google" and his predecessors. Diagnosis, 4(2), 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2016-0045
  • Lupton, D., Maslen, S. (2019). How women use digital technologies for health: Qualitative interview and focus group study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(1), e11481. https://doi.org/10.2196/11481
  • Makarla, S., Gopichandran, V., Tondare, D. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of cyberchondria among professionals working in the information technology sector in Chennai, India: A cross-sectional study. J Postgrad Med, 65(2), 87–92. https://doi.org/10.4103/jpgm.JPGM_293_18
  • McElroy, E., Shevlin, M. (2014). The development and initial validation of the cyberchondria severity scale (CSS). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 28(2), 259-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.007
  • Rice, RE. (2006). Influences, usage, and outcomes of internet health information searching: Multivariate results from the pew surveys. International Journal Of Medical İnformatics, 75(1), 8-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2005.07.032
  • Singh, K., Brown, R. J. (2016). From headache to tumour: An examination of health anxiety, health-related Internet use and 'query escalation'. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(9), 2008-2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315569620
  • Starcevic, V. (2017). Cyberchondria: Challenges of problematic online searches for health-related information. Psychother Psychosom, 86(3), 129-133. https://doi.org/10.1159/000465525
  • Starcevic, V., Berle, D. (2013). Cyberchondria: towards a better understanding of excessive health-related internet use. Expert Rev. Neurother, 13(2), 205-213. https://doi.org/ 10.1586/ern.12.162
  • Te Poel F., Baumgartner, SE., Hartmann, T. et al. (2016). Disorders The curious case of cyberchondria: A longitudinal study on thereciprocal relationship between health anxiety and online health information seeking M. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 43, 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.07.009
  • Uzun, SU., Zencir, M. (2018). Reliability and validity study of the Turkish version of Cyberchondria Severity Scale. Current Psychology, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0001-x
  • Wijesinghe, CA., Liyanage, ULNS., Kapugama, KGCL. et al. (2019). Muddling by googling Cyberchondria among outpatient attendees of two hospitals in Sri Lanka. J Psychiatry, 10(1), 11-15. https://doi.org/10.4038/sljpsyc.v10i1.8202
There are 28 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Nursing
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Filiz Polat

Leyla Delibaş 0000-0002-9529-5459

İbrahim Bilir 0000-0002-0110-3867

Publication Date September 30, 2022
Submission Date May 5, 2022
Acceptance Date June 20, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 3 Issue: 3

Cite

APA Polat, F., Delibaş, L., & Bilir, İ. (2022). Investigating the Relationship Between Cyberchondria Level and Perceived Stress in Young Adults. Turkish Journal of Science and Health, 3(3), 176-184. https://doi.org/10.51972/tfsd.1112388








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