Anxious temperament and cyberchondria as mediated by fear of COVID-19 infection: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

This study’s main goal was to evaluate the association between anxious temperament and the fear of COVID-19-related self-infection and infection in loved ones (family members, friends, relatives) and cyberchondria. The sample consisted of 499 men and women aged between 18 and 72 who were gathered from the general population via an online recruitment platform. A numerical rating scale comprising 11 degrees of fear was used to assess participants’ COVID-19-related fear, and affective temperaments were evaluated using Akiskal’s Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) scales. Cyberchondria was assessed using McElroy and Shevlin’s Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS). Small to medium positive correlations were found between depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperaments and cyberchondria and between depressive and anxious temperaments and COVID-19 fears. However, no correlation was observed between the hyperthymic temperament and cyberchondria. Cyberchondria positively correlated with both COVID-19 fears scales, though the correlation coefficients were medium. Based on the results of linear regression analysis, only anxious temperament and COVID-19 fear of self-infection were significant predictors of cyberchondria. The analysis also revealed a significant indirect effect of anxious temperament on cyberchondria through fear of COVID-19 self-infection as a mediator between anxious temperament and cyberchondria.

The effect of cyberchondria on anxiety, depression and quality of life during COVID-19: the mediational role of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and Internet addiction

“…Consistently with the previous literature on health anxiety ( McMullan et al, 2019 ), a more severe cyberchondria proved directly associated with a greater health anxiety. Moreover, cyberchondria also directly predicted the generalized anxiety dimension, adding strength to the few research exploring the link between cyberchondria and anxiety other than health anxiety ( Batıgün et al, 2020 ; Oniszczenko, 2021 ). In interpreting these findings, the partial overlap among the anxiety-spectrum constructs must be considered.…”

Fear, Psychological Impact, and Coping During the Initial Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic Among the General Population in India

“…The finding that the time spent over information about COVID-19 for more than 1 hour was associated with significant stress, anxiety, and depression is consistent with previous studies [17,18] as the excess time spent results in excess and/or repetitive exposure to misinformation and online health or COVID-19-related health search. Increased usage of online searches for medical information and the ensuing anxiety known as cyberchondria is considered as an independent risk factor for increased anxiety levels in the setting of COVID-19 [24][25][26].…”

“…The questionnaire was divided into three subscales: depression; anxiety; and stress. The total depression score was divided into normal (0-9), mild depression (10-13), moderate depression (14-20), severe depression (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27), and extremely severe depression (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42). The anxiety subscale score was divided into normal (0-7), mild anxiety (8-9), moderate anxiety (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), severe anxiety (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and extremely severe anxiety .…”

“…The anxiety subscale score was divided into normal (0-7), mild anxiety (8-9), moderate anxiety (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), severe anxiety (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and extremely severe anxiety . The stress subscale score was divided into normal (0-14), mild stress (15)(16)(17)(18), moderate stress (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), severe stress (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), and extremely severe stress (34-42). This questionnaire has been provided in the Appendices Section.…”

Relationships between fear of COVID‐19, cyberchondria, intolerance of uncertainty, and obsessional probabilistic inferences: A structural equation model

“…Laato, Islam, Islam, and Whelan ( 2020 ) identified that perceived severity and perceived susceptibility of COVID‐19 infection significantly contributed to cyberchondria after controlling for age and gender. In a 499 Polish community sample, Oniszczenko ( 2021 ) found that fear of COVID‐19 was associated with cyberchondria and it also mediated the relationship between anxious temperament and cyberchondria. Durmuş et al .…”