Influence Mechanism of Online Health Information Seeking Behavior on Health Anxiety
In order to understand and deal with health anxiety better,and to reveal the internal influence mechanism of online health information seeking on individual health anxiety,a model is constructed based on the extended parallel process model and cognitive behavior theory.The sample data of 315 questionnaires are analyzed using the SEM-fsQCA method.The results of the SEM show that both the frequency of online health information seeking and online information source preferences have a positive impact on health anxiety.The mediating and chain mediating effects of information overload and self-diagnosis are significant.The impact of perceived usefulness of health information is significant,indicating the existence of relief pathways.fsQCA method reveals two types of health anxiety condition configurations with high attention to information and lack of utility.The research discovers four mechanisms by which online health information seeking behavior causes health anxiety,providing a new theoretical perspective for understanding and coping with health anxiety and references for the governance of online health information environment.
Online Health Information SeekingEPPMCognitive Behavior TheoryHealth AnxietyfsQCA