Clinical Trial: An Examination of the Effects of Health-related Internet Use in Individuals With Pathological Health Anxiety

Study Status: Not yet recruiting
Recruit Status: Not yet recruiting
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: An Examination of the Effects of Health-related Internet Use in Individuals With Pathological Health Anxiety in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Brief Summary: The purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of health-related internet use on affect, health anxiety and symptom severity in individuals with pathological levels of health anxiety. The present randomized controlled study compares an online medical searching condition with a waiting (i.e. non-searching) condition to manipulate the attentional focus. After an induction of health anxiety using the Autobiographical Emotional Memory Task the participants in the searching condition go online and search for subjectively relevant health information (external focus of attention). Individuals in the waiting (i.e. non-searching) condition are requested to do nothing and not to distract themselves (internal focus of attention).

Detailed Summary:

The internet is a popular method for obtaining information. Increasingly, it is also used to answer medical and health related questions, because compared to other methods (e.g. going to the library or visiting a doctor) it has a number of advantages to offer like low costs, availability, easy accessibility, anonymity, and great diversity of information types and sources. 60 to 80 percent of internet users search online for medical information. In this context the term "cyberchondria" was coined in the media to describe the potentially detrimental effects of this behavior. The first studies in this field using self-report retrospective data showed that individuals with elevated levels of health anxiety seem to make increased use of the internet for this purpose and it seems to maintain health anxiety in the long-term. However, up until today little is known about the consequences of this behavior and the maintaining mechanism.

This randomized controlled experimental study investigates the effects of health-related internet use on affect, symptom severity and health anxiety in individuals with pathological health anxiety. Participants will first undergo a baseline assessment. After that health anxiety is induced using the Autobiographical Emotional Memory Task and participants complete another assessment. Then participants are randomly assigned to either an online medical searching condition (experimental group, EG) or a non-searching condition (control group, CG) to manipulate attentional focus. The EG is requested to search online for health information (external focus of attention), the CG is requested to do nothing and not to distract themselves (internal focus of attention). Then another assessment is completed and the treatment groups are compared regarding the effects on affect, symptom severity and health anxiety. Besides examining these effects a further
Sponsor: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Current Primary Outcome:

  • Change of health anxiety before and after 8 minutes of health-related internet searching or waiting [ Time Frame: right before and after 8 minutes of health-related internet searching or waiting ]
    self-created item
  • Change of positive and negative affect before and after 8 minutes of health-related internet searching or waiting [ Time Frame: right before and after 8 minutes of health-related internet searching or waiting ]
    Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule - State (PANAS-State)
  • Change of symptom severity before and after 8 minutes of health-related internet searching or waiting [ Time Frame: right before and after 8 minutes of health-related internet searching or waiting ]
    Checklist for symptoms in daily life (CSD)


Original Primary Outcome: Same as current

Current Secondary Outcome:

  • Change of health anxiety before and after 10 minutes of anxiety induction [ Time Frame: right before and after 10 minutes of anxiety induction ]
    self-created item
  • Change of positive and negative affect before and after 10 minutes of anxiety induction [ Time Frame: right before and after 10 minutes of anxiety induction ]
    Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule - State (PANAS-State)
  • Change of symptom severity before and after 10 minutes of anxiety induction [ Time Frame: right before and after 10 minutes of anxiety induction ]
    Checklist for symptoms in daily life (CSD)


Original Secondary Outcome: Same as current

Information By: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Dates:
Date Received: January 5, 2017
Date Started:
Date Completion:
Last Updated: January 16, 2017
Last Verified: January 2017