Exploring developmental trajectory of cyberchondria over time: A three-wave panel study

Cyberchondria describes online health information seeking (OHIS) in an excessive pattern, along with other characteristics, including distress, reassurance, and compulsion. Drawing upon the risk information seeking and processing model and the hybrid model of cyberchondria, this study investigated how health anxiety, information insufficiency, OHIS contributed to cyberchondria over time. We conducted a three-wave panel survey in China (N = 1,271, W1 in June 2021; N = 816, W2 in July 2021; N = 654, W3 in August 2021). Results of a cross-lagged panel model demonstrated that health anxiety at Wave 1 had a cross-lagged effect on information insufficiency at Wave 2. Moreover, information insufficiency at Wave 1 increased OHIS at Wave 2, which further predicted cyberchondria at Wave 3. Health anxiety, information insufficiency, and OHIS were directly and positively related to cyberchondria across the waves, except that information insufficiency at Wave 1 did not predict cyberchondria at Wave 2. This study documented the dynamic and intricate processes underlying the development of cyberchondria, providing both theoretical and practical insights in this nascent research area.