Testing the Italian version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale and a metacognitive model of cyberchondria.

ABSTRACT

Cyberchondria refers to the tendency to excessively and compulsively search for online medical information despite the distress experienced, with consequent impairment of daily-life activities. The current two studies sought to explore (i) the factor structure of the Italian version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS) and (ii) a metacognitive model of cyberchondria. Participants were Italian community adults who reported using the Internet to search for health-related information (Study 1 N = 374, Study 2 N = 717). Results from Study 1 supported the Italian version of the CSS exhibiting a five-factor structure, with the resulting scales demonstrating good internal consistency, 5-week test-retest reliability, and generally strong correlations with indices of health anxiety. In Study 2, results of a path analysis showed that the negative metacognitive belief domain ("thoughts are uncontrollable") shared the strongest direct association with each of the five dimensions of cyberchondria, followed by beliefs about rituals. Consistently, the strongest indirect associations were found between "thoughts are uncontrollable" and all the five cyberchondria dimensions via beliefs about rituals. These results provide support for an Italian version of the CSS and the metacognitive conceptualization of cyberchondria.