Unpacking cyberchondria: The roles of online health information seeking, health information overload, and health misperceptions

Abstract

Cyberchondria, the excessive search for health information online coupled with elevated health anxiety or concerns, has garnered growing scholarly attention recently. Anchored by the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model and information science literature, this study theorizes a pathway from online health information seeking via diverse sources (“S”) to cyberchondria (“R”) through health information overload and misperceptions (“O”). Structural equation modeling based on an online survey (N = 690) disclosed that health information overload was positively associated with searching for health information on online search engines and news media. Additionally, seeking health information from health-specific websites and online news media was positively tied to health misperceptions. Furthermore, increased health information overload was related to stronger health misperceptions, and they were both positively tied to cyberchondria. Theoretically, this study affords a more nuanced understanding of cyberchondria by zooming into the roles of seeking health information via different online sources. Besides, health misperceptions, as a relatively innovative predictor of cyberchondria, have been examined empirically. Practically, the findings furnish feasible strategies to optimize online platforms to mitigate the undesirable consequences of online health information consumption.