Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33192848›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2020

Cyberchondria During the Coronavirus Pandemic: The Effects of Neuroticism and Optimism.

Alexandra Maftei, Andrei Corneliu Holman

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed
7.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

28 citing papers in PubMed, 63 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alexandra MafteiDepartment of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Andrei Corneliu HolmanDepartment of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iaşi, Romania.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University · RO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Health anxiety during the current coronavirus pandemic can be a serious psychological issue, amplified by the medical uncertainty around this disease and social isolation. As older people are especially at risk of becoming severely ill, it is important to examine the personal factors that make members of this age group more prone to health anxiety. Previous studies indicated that cyberchondria, i.e., the repeated online search for medical information, exacerbates health anxiety. The present research investigated the effect of two opposing traits, optimism and neuroticism, on cyberchondria during the COVID-19 pandemic. The associations of cyberchondria with demographic factors (age, gender, and education) were also examined. A sample of 880 participants, aged 15-67, 65% of whom were female, participated in an online survey. Results show that neuroticism, age, and being female are positively associated with cyberchondria. Optimism was found to be related to cyberchondria, but this effect was qualified by a significant interaction with age. Further analysis revealed that the effect of optimism was significant only in the highest age group. Moreover, among these elderly participants, the psychologically protective influence of optimism against cyberchondria emerged as larger than the opposite effect of neuroticism. This demonstrates the mental benefits of encouraging a positive outlook on the current health crisis and on one's personal resilience in facing it, especially among the elderly. Conversely, among people who use the Internet as a major source of medical information, those high in neuroticism may be more prone to cyberchondria.

Indexed as

agecoronaviruscyberchondrianeuroticismoptimism

Identifiers

PMID33192848
PMCPMC7662431
OpenAlexW3097608321

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.