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Article

Relationship between Health-Anxiety and Cyberchondria: Role of Metacognitive Beliefs

by
Faiza Nadeem
1,
Najma Iqbal Malik
1,
Mohsin Atta
1,
Irfan Ullah
2,
Giovanni Martinotti
3,
Mauro Pettorruso
3,
Federica Vellante
3,
Massimo Di Giannantonio
3 and
Domenico De Berardis
4,*
1
Department of Psychology, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan
2
Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
3
Department of Neurosciences and Imaging, Chair of Psychiatry, University “G. D’Annunzio”, 66100 Chieti, Italy
4
National Health Service, Department of Mental Health, ASL 4, 64100 Teramo, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11(9), 2590; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11092590
Submission received: 26 March 2022 / Revised: 27 April 2022 / Accepted: 29 April 2022 / Published: 5 May 2022
(This article belongs to the Section Mental Health)
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Abstract

Purpose: The current study was designed to examine the relationship between health anxiety, cyberchondria (its constructs), and metacognitive beliefs. In addition, it also evaluated the moderating role of metacognitive beliefs in this relationship. Design and Method: The present study used the purposive sampling technique to acquire a sample of (N = 500) adults, among them (N = 256) women and (N = 244) men, and the age of the sample ranged from 20 to 50 years. Short Health Anxiety Inventory, Cyberchondria Severity Scale, and Metacognitions Questionnaire–Health Anxiety were used to operationalize the present study variables. Findings: The descriptive statistics revealed that all instruments have good psychometric properties, as Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for all scales are ≥0.70. In addition to this, the Pearson correlation showed that all variables of the present study have a significant positive correlation with each other. Furthermore, the regression analysis described that health anxiety and metacognitive beliefs (biased thinking and beliefs about uncontrollable thoughts) were the significant positive predictors of cyberchondria. Moreover, moderation analysis showed that metacognitive beliefs significantly strengthened the association between health anxiety and cyberchondria and its constructs. Practical Implications: The present study will help medical practitioners to understand how metacognitive beliefs and health anxiety can cause an increase in cyberchondria. This will help them to design better treatment plans for people with cyberchondria.
Keywords: health anxiety; cyberchondria; metacognitive beliefs health anxiety; cyberchondria; metacognitive beliefs

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MDPI and ACS Style

Nadeem, F.; Malik, N.I.; Atta, M.; Ullah, I.; Martinotti, G.; Pettorruso, M.; Vellante, F.; Di Giannantonio, M.; De Berardis, D. Relationship between Health-Anxiety and Cyberchondria: Role of Metacognitive Beliefs. J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11, 2590. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11092590

AMA Style

Nadeem F, Malik NI, Atta M, Ullah I, Martinotti G, Pettorruso M, Vellante F, Di Giannantonio M, De Berardis D. Relationship between Health-Anxiety and Cyberchondria: Role of Metacognitive Beliefs. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022; 11(9):2590. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11092590

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nadeem, Faiza, Najma Iqbal Malik, Mohsin Atta, Irfan Ullah, Giovanni Martinotti, Mauro Pettorruso, Federica Vellante, Massimo Di Giannantonio, and Domenico De Berardis. 2022. "Relationship between Health-Anxiety and Cyberchondria: Role of Metacognitive Beliefs" Journal of Clinical Medicine 11, no. 9: 2590. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11092590

APA Style

Nadeem, F., Malik, N. I., Atta, M., Ullah, I., Martinotti, G., Pettorruso, M., Vellante, F., Di Giannantonio, M., & De Berardis, D. (2022). Relationship between Health-Anxiety and Cyberchondria: Role of Metacognitive Beliefs. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(9), 2590. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11092590

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