Singh, K., Fox, J.R.E. orcid.org/0000-0003-3039-8024 and Brown, R.J. (2016) Health anxiety and Internet use: a thematic analysis. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 10 (2). 4. ISSN 1802-7962
Abstract
The current study aimed to obtain health anxious students’ perspectives on their reasons for using the Internet to obtain health information, and the nature and effects of such usage. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with 20 postgraduate and undergraduate students identified as highly health anxious, and were examined using thematic analysis. Results suggested that themes were organized by different stages of the search process. Reasons for searching included curiosity, anxiety/worry about undiagnosed symptoms, and remedy-seeking. Both positive (e.g. reassurance) and negative (e.g. uncertainty) outcomes were reported. Findings from the current study suggest that the Internet constitutes an important resource for obtaining health information by health anxious individuals, with the potential to both reduce and exacerbate health anxiety.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Karmpaul Singh, John R. E. Fox, Richard J. Brown. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Hypochondria; cyberchondria; qualitative; internet; health anxiety |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2025 12:32 |
Last Modified: | 10 Jan 2025 14:35 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Masaryk University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.5817/cp2016-2-4 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:221167 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0