Evaluation of health anxiety and cyberchondria levels in adolescent high school students

<i>Background:</i> Adolescence is a critical period marked by increased vulnerability to anxiety-related conditions. With the widespread use of the internet, persistent concerns about health may manifest as cyberchondria in this age group.<i>Objective:</i> The study aimed to evaluate the effect of students' characteristics (e.g., sex, student's grade level) and their cyberchondria levels on their health anxiety levels.<i>Methods:</i> A descriptive cross-sectional study was completed with 328 students (mean age = 15.63 years, SD = 2.07 years). The study was conducted among 14 to 17-year-old students studying in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grades of a public high school between February 2021 and April 2023. Study data were collected using sociodemographic information, health anxiety, and cyberchondria severity measures. Backward elimination linear regression analyses were performed to reveal the factors that predicted health anxiety.<i>Results:</i> Almost half of the sample (<i>n</i> = 132, 40.2%) were male and 196 (59.8%) were female. There were statistically significant differences in terms of total and subscale scores of the Health Anxiety Inventory by sex. Specifically, the mean scores of female students (mean = 16.41, SD = 7.19) were significantly higher than those of male students (mean = 13.49, SD = 6.49) on the total scale (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Accordingly, the mean hypersensitivity to physical symptoms and anxiety subscale scores were significantly higher for female students (mean = 12.83, SD = 5.84) than for males (mean = 10.41, SD = 5.14) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Similarly, the mean negative consequences of illness subscale scores were significantly higher for females (mean = 3.58, SD = 2.41), than for males (mean = 3.08, SD = 2.49) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Regression analysis results indicated that sex (<i>β</i> = -0.222), doing research on the internet very frequently (<i>β</i> = 0.175), and Cyberchondria Severity Scale total scores (<i>β</i> = 0.428) significantly predicted health anxiety scores, respectively (<i>F</i>(3.324) = 47.732, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Together, all three significant variables explain 31% of the variance.<i>Conclusions:</i> There was a positive and weak to moderate correlation between students' health anxiety levels and cyberchondria levels, and their health anxiety levels increased with an increase in their cyberchondria levels.