Health anxiety and information-seeking in the digital age: a two-wave study of cyberchondria

Purpose: Cyberchondria, characterized by excessive online health information seeking and resulting anxiety, is intensifying. This study aims to examine how threat perceptions and cognitive factors drive cyberchondria and how this condition leads to health information fatigue on social media (HIFSM), self-medication and therapy compliance.

Design/methodology/approach: This study integrates protection motivation theory, cognitive load theory and the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) model to inform the partial least squares path modeling of a 2-wave survey over 6 months of 400 participants.

Findings: Perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, online information trust and information overload intensify cyberchondria, which sparks HIFSM and, in turn, increases self-medication while undermining therapy compliance. Trust in physicians mitigates these adverse effects.

Practical implications: Since information overload fuels cyberchondria, the findings urge social media developers to help curb cyberchondria by prioritizing credible health content, integrating source-verification features and collaborating with clinicians to curate guideline-based information.

Originality/value: This study advances cyberchondria research by uniting three theoretical perspectives and identifying physician trust as a protective factor.