Abstract
The aim of this paper is a presentation of the adaptation process of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (SCC) to measure cyberchondria and verification of reliability and construct validities of the test in the Polish population. The study included 380 participants (203 women and 177 men) aged 19-68 (M = 26.5; SD = 11.1). The CSS-PL was used to measure cyberchondria, the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) for measuring hypochondria, and the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) to verify obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Four-factor structure of cyberchondria measured with the CSS-PL was supported. Internal consistency indices of the CSS-PL were between 0.87 and 0.95, test-retest reliability results were 0.58-0.76. This study demonstrated construct validity of the CSS-PL via its correlations with health anxiety (r = 0.31-0.56) and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (r = 0.17-0.48). The CSS-PL is an initial standardized version of an instrument for measuring cyberchondria and meets the psychometric criteria of reliability and validity for psychological testing tools. The CSS-PL may be used both in diagnostic and scientific research.
Highlights
Cyberchondria is defined as a tendency to experience intense anxiety about one’s health and excessive searching on the Internet for medical information about the symptoms and ailments, which may take on a dispositional form [1, 2]
The results of their research showed that the 2-factor model with Cyberchondria factor and Mistrust factor was best fitted to the data [19]
In the process of adapting the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS)-PL, our studies supported a 4-factor structure of the CSS-PL which encompasses factors of Compulsion, Distress, Excessiveness and Reassurance. This confirms a multidimensional model of cyberchondria [2, 11, 19]
Summary
Cyberchondria is defined as a tendency to experience intense anxiety about one’s health and excessive searching on the Internet for medical information about the symptoms and ailments, which may take on a dispositional form [1, 2]. Research shows that too frequent inquiring about perceived medical conditions and searching the Web for more information about them reflects an anxiety about one’s health and a deep worry of being seriously ill (health anxiety) [8,9,10]. It is probably associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder [11, 12]
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