The logic behind cyberchondria: Longitudinal relations among risk perception, health anxiety, and online health information seeking

Abstract

The cyberchondria phenomenon presents a significant health concern, yet there remains a relative scarcity of research on the formation mechanisms of cyberchondria and its longitudinal studies. Based on the RISP model and C-A-C framework, this study aimed to examine the longitudinal associations between risk perception, health anxiety, and online health information seeking (OHIS) within the context of Chinese social media. We used a three-wave longitudinal survey with 514 participants at one-month intervals starting September 2023, employing the Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) for data analysis. At the between-person level, we solely observed significant negative associations between health anxiety and OHIS. At the within-person level, (1) positively bidirectional associations were noted among the three main variables; (2) causal relationships were identified between risk perception and OHIS, as well as between health anxiety and OHIS; (3) Health anxiety partially mediated the relationship between risk perception and OHIS, and OHIS fully mediated the relationship between health anxiety at T1 and T3; and (4) multi-group analyses showed that gender differences in RI-CLPM were significant, while age differences were insignificant. The results offer theoretical and practical insights for health practitioners, information seekers, and social media platforms.