Are Cyberchondria and Intolerance of Uncertainty Related to Smartphone Addiction?

Aleksandar Vujić, Marija Volarov, Milan Latas, Zsolt Demetrovics, Orsolya Kiraly, Attila Szabo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
8 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Smartphones are a medium for performing online activities, and one such activity could be the compulsive online health information search — cyberchondria. This study aimed to test whether cyberchondria and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) positively predict smartphone addiction (SA), adjusted for age, gender, daily use duration, the reason for using smartphones, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The sample consisted of 471 adults (55.2% women) from the general population without chronic diseases (Mage = 38.67). Regression analysis showed that IU was a positive predictor of SA (β =.17, p <.001), as well as cyberchondria (β =.14, p <.001), which had a unique contribution to the explanation of SA, relative to IU. Other significant predictors were average daily smartphone use and entertainment use, the latter being the strongest predictor in the model. These results revealed cyberchondria as a unique predictor of SA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3361-3379
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Volume22
Issue number6
Early online date3 May 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Behavioral addiction
  • Cyberchondria
  • Intolerance of uncertainty
  • Problematic smartphone Use
  • Smartphone addiction

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