Premium
The relative contribution of health cognitions and metacognitions about health anxiety to cyberchondria: A prospective study
Author(s) -
Airoldi Sofia,
Kolubinski Daniel C.,
Nikčević Ana V.,
Spada Marcantonio M.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.23252
Subject(s) - anxiety , psychology , metacognition , cognition , clinical psychology , psychiatry
Objectives Cyberchondria involves the excessive and compulsive use of the Internet to search for health information. The present study investigated the relative contribution of health cognitions and metacognitions about health anxiety to prospective cyberchondria scores, controlling for health anxiety and hours spent online per day. Methods A convenience sample of 221 participants was recruited for the purpose of this study with a final sample totaling 125 participants (58.4% females, M age = 34.51 years) who completed the full survey at baseline ( T 0 ) and a measure of cyberchondria after 30 days ( T 1 ). Results The results of the study showed that metacognition about health anxiety relating to beliefs about the uncontrollability of thoughts was the only significant predictor of prospective cyberchondria scores when controlling for health anxiety. Conclusions These results offer further support to the role of beliefs about the uncontrollability of thoughts in cyberchondria. The implications of the findings are discussed.