ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2021
Associations Between the Perceived Severity of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Cyberchondria, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Lockdown Experience: Cross-sectional Survey Study.
Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines on Sperm Quality: Systematic Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Pooled it
- The Empowering Role of Web-Based Help Seeking on Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Trends in the Implementation of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale: Bibliometric Analysis.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Impact of Cyberchondria on Health and Quality of Life: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Unpacking Young Adults' Fact-Checking Intent on Oral Health Misinformation: Parallel Mediating Roles of Need for Cognition and Perceived Seriousness-A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- From perceived threat to coping strategies: exploring the role of social media and its impact on loneliness and anxiety during the COVID-19 quarantine.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Academic Burnout among Medical College Students in China: Findings from a Web-Based Survey.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Article
- Article
- Psychological responses and factors associated with depression and anxiety in entry personnel under quarantine during pandemic in China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Manifestations and Outcomes of Intracerebral Hemorrhage During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: Multicenter, Longitudinal Cohort Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Article
- Expressive Interviewing Agents to Support Health-Related Behavior Change: Randomized Controlled Study of COVID-19 Behaviors.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Meta-analysis on application of Protection Motivation Theory in preventive behaviors against COVID-19.International journal of disaster risk reduction : IJDRR · 2023Review
- [Sources used to obtain information on COVID-19 and its impact on mental health.]Revista espanola de salud publica · 2023Article
- Caregiver Perceptions of Children's and Adolescents' Psychosocial Functioning During the Stringent COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions in Shanghai: Cross-sectional Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Article
- Intensity and Network Structure of Insomnia Symptoms and the Role of Mental Health During the First Two Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic.Nature and science of sleep · 2023Article
- Cyberchondria: a Growing Concern During the COVID-19 Pandemic and a Possible Addictive Disorder?Current addiction reports · 2023Review
- Depression and Anxiety Symptoms and Their Associated Factors Among Chinese Residents After the Lifting of the Dynamic Zero-COVID Policy: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of general medicine · 2023Article
- The relationship among pregnancy-related anxiety, perceived social support, family function and resilience in Chinese pregnant women: a structural equation modeling analysis.BMC women's health · 2022Article
- New challenges in facing cyberchondria during the coronavirus disease pandemic.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2022Review
- How Income Inequality and Race Concentrate Depression in Low-Income Women in the US; 2005-2016.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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6 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundThe outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great panic among the public, with many people suffering from adverse stress reactions. To control the spread of the pandemic, governments in many countries have imposed lockdown policies. In this unique pandemic context, people can obtain information about pandemic dynamics on the internet. However, searching for health-related information on the internet frequently increases the possibility of individuals being troubled by the information that they find, and consequently, experiencing symptoms of cyberchondria.
objectiveWe aimed to examine the relationships between people's perceived severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and their depression, anxiety, and stress to explore the role of cyberchondria, which, in these relationship mechanisms, is closely related to using the internet. In addition, we also examined the moderating role of lockdown experiences.
methodsIn February 2020, a total of 486 participants were recruited through a web-based platform from areas in China with a large number of infections. We used questionnaires to measure participants' perceived severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, to measure the severity of their cyberchondria, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and to assess their lockdown experiences. Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, common method bias, descriptive statistical analysis, and correlation analysis were performed, and moderated mediation models were examined.
resultsThere was a positive association between perceived severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and depression (β=0.36, t=8.51, P<.001), anxiety (β=0.41, t=9.84, P<.001), and stress (β=0.46, t=11.45, P<.001), which were mediated by cyberchondria (β=0.36, t=8.59, P<.001). The direct effects of perceived severity of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety (β=0.07, t=2.01, P=.045) and stress (β=0.09, t=2.75, P=.006) and the indirect effects of cyberchondria on depression (β=0.10, t=2.59, P=.009) and anxiety (β=0.10, t=2.50, P=.01) were moderated by lockdown experience.
conclusionsThe higher the perceived severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the more serious individuals' symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. In addition, the associations were partially mediated by cyberchondria. Individuals with higher perceived severity of the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to develop cyberchondria, which aggravated individuals' depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Negative lockdown experiences exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on mental health.
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