Self-esteem and cyberchondria: The mediation effects of health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in a community sample

Abstract

Cyberchondria refers to the excessive and repeated searching for medical information on the Internet and may be considered as health-related problematic Internet use. Previous findings indicated that cyberchondria is positively associated with health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Also, research suggests that excessive or problematic Internet use as well as health worries and compulsive behaviors are present among individuals with low self-esteem. This study sought to examine: (1) the association between self-esteem and cyberchondria, and (2) the mediating role of health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in the relationship between self-esteem and cyberchondria. Participants (N = 207) from a community sample completed self-report measures assessing global self-esteem, health anxiety, obsessive–compulsive symptoms, and cyberchondria. We found that self-esteem directly predicted cyberchondria and that health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms parallelly mediated the relationship between self-esteem and cyberchondria. These findings suggest that low self-esteem, health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms can be considered vulnerability factors for cyberchondria. In addition, the reverse mediation model indicated that cyberchondria potentially predicts self-esteem both directly and through health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms. The bidirectional relationship among the analyzed variables are discussed in the context of potential psychological predictors and consequences of cyberchondria and possible mechanisms explaining cyberchondria. The current study provides further insight into the conceptualization of cyberchondria and the feasibility of specific treatment directions.