COVID-19: Original Article
- An Observational Study in Manipur State, India on Preventive Behavior Influenced by Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Mediated by Cyberchondria and Information Overload
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Renu Bala, Amit Srivastava, Gouri Devi Ningthoujam, Thadoi Potsangbam, Amita Oinam, Ch Lily Anal
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J Prev Med Public Health. 2021;54(1):22-30. Published online December 1, 2020
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.20.465
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Abstract
PDFSupplementary Material
- Objectives
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency posing unprecedented challenges for health authorities. Social media may serve as an effective platform to disseminate health-related information. This study aimed to assess the extent of social media use, its impact on preventive behavior, and negative health effects such as cyberchondria and information overload.
Methods
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted between June 10, 2020 and August 9, 2020 among people visiting the outpatient department of the authors’ institution, and participants were also recruited during field visits for an awareness drive. Questions were developed on preventive behavior, and the Short Cyberchondria Scale and instruments dealing with information overload and perceived vulnerability were used.
Results
The study recruited 767 participants with a mean age of about 45 years. Most of the participants (>90%) engaged in preventive behaviors, which were influenced by the extent of information received through social media platforms (β=3.297; p<0.001) and awareness of infection when a family member tested positive (β=29.082; p<0.001) or a neighbor tested positive (β=27.964; p<0.001). The majority (63.0%) of individuals often searched for COVID-19 related news on social media platforms. The mean±standard deviation scores for cyberchondria and information overload were 9.09±4.05 and 8.69±2.56, respectively. Significant and moderately strong correlations were found between cyberchondria, information overload, and perceived vulnerability to COVID-19.
Conclusions
This study provides evidence that the use of social media as an information- seeking platform altered preventive behavior. However, excessive and misleading information resulted in cyberchondria and information overload.
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Summary
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Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
- The impact of online health information source preference on intolerance to uncertainty and cyberchondria in a youthful generation
Ozkan Bahadir, Cihad Dundar
Indian Journal of Psychiatry.2024; 66(4): 360. CrossRef - Predictors of Cyberchondria During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Study Using Supervised Machine Learning
Alexandre Infanti, Vladan Starcevic, Adriano Schimmenti, Yasser Khazaal, Laurent Karila, Alessandro Giardina, Maèva Flayelle, Seyedeh Boshra Hedayatzadeh Razavi, Stéphanie Baggio, Claus Vögele, Joël Billieux
JMIR Formative Research.2023; 7: e42206. CrossRef - Cyberchondria: a Growing Concern During the COVID-19 Pandemic and a Possible Addictive Disorder?
Gemma Mestre-Bach, Marc N. Potenza
Current Addiction Reports.2023; 10(1): 77. CrossRef - Prevalence of cyberchondria among undergraduate students of a private degree college with Cyberchondria Severity Scale-12 in an urban area
Ummu Kulsum, M Sushma, SCynthia Subhaprada, A Sreedevi
BLDE University Journal of Health Sciences.2023; 8(1): 95. CrossRef - Peak months of pandemic’s first-wave in India: a cross-sectional assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practice towards COVID-19 among internet-savvy individuals
Jeevitha Marudachalam, Oviyha Ravichandhiran, Kameswaran Ramalingam, Sambathkumar Ramanathan, Sirajudeen Mahaboob, Habeeb Ibrahim Abdul Razack
Drugs & Therapy Perspectives.2022; 38(2): 93. CrossRef - Stratified Impacts of the Infodemic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey in 6 Asian Jurisdictions
Xi Chen, Fen Lin, Edmund W Cheng
Journal of Medical Internet Research.2022; 24(3): e31088. CrossRef - The effect of cyberchondria on anxiety, depression and quality of life during COVID-19: the mediational role of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and Internet addiction
Federica Ambrosini, Roberto Truzoli, Matteo Vismara, Daniele Vitella, Roberta Biolcati
Heliyon.2022; 8(5): e09437. CrossRef - New challenges in facing cyberchondria during the coronavirus disease pandemic
Matteo Vismara, Alberto Varinelli, Luca Pellegrini, Arun Enara, Naomi A Fineberg
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.2022; 46: 101156. CrossRef - The Mediating Effect of Reassurance-Seeking Behavior on the Influence of Viral Anxiety and Depression on COVID-19 Obsession Among Medical Students
Hyun Sub Kim, Junseok Ahn, Jukab Lee, Youjin Hong, Changnam Kim, Jangho Park, Seockhoon Chung
Frontiers in Psychiatry.2022;[Epub] CrossRef - How online searches fuel health anxiety: Investigating the link between health-related searches, health anxiety, and future intention
Rachel X. Peng
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Rujittika Mungmunpuntipantip, Viroj Wiwanitkit
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Leonardo W Heyerdahl, Benedetta Lana, Tamara Giles-Vernick
JMIR Infodemiology.2021; 1(1): e27472. CrossRef - The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Searching for Health-Related Information and Cyberchondria on the General Population in Italy
Matteo Vismara, Daniele Vitella, Roberta Biolcati, Federica Ambrosini, Veronica Pirola, Bernardo Dell'Osso, Roberto Truzoli
Frontiers in Psychiatry.2021;[Epub] CrossRef - Lifestyle behavior of patients with noncommunicable diseases during COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study
Renu Bala, Amit Srivastava
Indian Journal of Health Sciences and Biomedical Research (KLEU).2021; 14(2): 227. CrossRef
Validation Studies
- Development of Internet Addiction Measurement Scales and Korean Internet Addiction Index.
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Jae Sung Park
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J Prev Med Public Health. 2005;38(3):298-306.
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Abstract
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- OBJECTIVE
To develop measurement scales of Internet addiction, and propose a Korean Internet Addiction Index (K-IAI) and classification criteria for Internet addiction from the threshold scores developed. METHODS: The identification of the concept of "Internet addiction" was based on the literature review. To select the scales, an exploratory factor analysis was applied. A construct validation was tested by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a structured equation model (SEM). In testing the validity of the classification criteria, ANOVA and non-recursive models with SEM were applied. RESULTS: Out of 1, 080 questionnaires distributed, 1, 037 were returned, ; a response rate of 96%. The Cronbach-alpha of all items was over 0.75. Using an exploratory factor analysis in the condition of a 6 factor constrain as the study model proposed, 23 of the initial 28 items were identified. In testing the discriminant and convergent validity of the selected 23 scales using CFA with SEM, the Internet addiction model explained about 93% of all variances of the data collected, and all the latent variables significantly explained the designated scales. A K-IAI was proposed using the T-scores of the sum of all factor averages. In the classification of users, the basic concept was a two standard deviation approach of the K-IAI as the criteria of MMPI. The addiction group had a score > or = 70 in the K-IAI, the pre-addiction group between > or = 50 and < 70, and the average user group < 50. The Internet use times of the classified groups were statistically different in the ANOVA and multiple comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: The K-IAI is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring Internet addiction. Moreover, the taxonomy of the groups was also verified using various methods.
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Summary
English Abstract
- Association of Internet Addiction with Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile and Perceived Health Status in Adolescents.
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Jung Sook Kim, Byung Chul Chun
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J Prev Med Public Health. 2005;38(1):53-60.
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Abstract
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- OBJECTIVES
To identify the relationship between the internet addiction of adolescents and their Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile and Perceived Health Status, and thereby to detect the impact of internet addiction on the health of adolescents, produce the basic information necessary to develop a prevention program for internet addiction and to plan for a health promotion program. METHODS: This study was designed as a cross-sectional study, and the subjects were the second-grade students of three junior-high and three high schools located in the city of K in Kyung Gi Province. Out of 769 subjects, 764 completed the questionnaires (99.3%) ; 369 (48.3%) junior-high school students and 395 (51.7%) high school students. The questionnaires were composed of Young's Internet Addiction, Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile, Perceived Health Status, and general characteristics. We used t-test, ANOVA in means comparison between groups, X2-test in frequency analysis, and multiple regression analysis in multivariate analysis, using the SAS 8.1 (R) program. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile according to internet addiction status (severe addiction vs. other status, p< 0.0001). The Perceived Health Status scores was lowest in the severe addiction group (p< 0.001). There was also a significant negative correlation between internet addiction and Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile (p< 0.0001). The results of multiple regression showed that Young's Addiction Score was significant for the subjects' Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile after controlling for other variables (p< 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the severe internet addiction group had the lowest score in Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile and Perceived Health Status, which suggests that the addiction could have a negative effect on the health status of adolescents.
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Summary