An Examination of the Effects of Health-related Internet Use in

Status Not yet recruiting

Clinical Trial 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).

Clinical Trial Description

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 aim of this study is to identify the underlying mechanism. Two possibilities are supposed: a) An increase of the variables of interest due to health-related information or b) a decrease due to externalization. ;

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

Hypochondriasis

Clinical Trial Details

NCT number	NCT03024593
Study type	Interventional
Source	Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Contact	Sandra K Hamann, Dipl.-Psych.
Phone	(+49) 6131 - 3939 214
Email	sahamann@uni-mainz.de
Status	Not yet recruiting
Phase	N/A

View Details

See also
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Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.

Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.

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

Clinical Trial Summary

Clinical Trial Description

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms