The cyberchondria severity scale (CSS): validity and reliability study of the Turkish version
Open accessAbstract
Objective: Even though the internet is a valuable resource for medical information, it has the potential to increase anxiety, fear or obsessive-compulsive behaviours, particularly among individuals more prone to health related anxiety.Researchers have found that health anxiety, hypochondria, and online health searches are associated with increased anxious symptomatology.The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale, a measure of online health anxiety.Method: Three hundred thirty-seven university students with an age range of 16-55 were included in the study.The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS), Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory-3 (ASI-3), and Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) were administered to participants.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that five-factor solution best fit to the data.The overall and subscales of the CSS had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.91, for the overall measure, and Cronbach α values ranged from 0.78 to 0.87), with an exception of 'mistruct of medical professional' subscale (Cronbach α = 0.64).The total and subscales of the CSS had generally good convergent validity.Conclusion: The CSS is a newly developed screening tool to assess online health anxiety, and present study demonstrated that the Turkish version of the scale had promising psychometric properties.
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The original CSS was subsequently translated and validated in Polish, Turkish, and German, and translated in Portuguese.
“The original CSS was subsequently translated and validated in Polish [52], Turkish [57,70], and German [34], and translated in Portuguese [60].”
From Is cyberchondria a new transdiagnostic digital compulsive syndrome? A systematic review of the evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [57]
Various exploratory studies have found a correlation between CSS and problematic usage of the Internet severity.
“Indeed, various exploratory studies have found a correlation between CSS and PUI severity [22,33,50,57].”
From Is cyberchondria a new transdiagnostic digital compulsive syndrome? A systematic review of the evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [57]
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- Authors
- Selvi, Y., Gokce Turan, S., Asena Sayin, A., Boysan, M., & Kandeger, A.
- Affiliations
- Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi (TR)
- ORCID
- Boysan, Murat
- Venue
- Sleep and Hypnosis - International Journal
- Publisher
- Istanbul Medipol Universitesi
- Published
- 2018-01-26
- Pages
- 241-246
- ISSN
- 1302-1192 (ISSN-L)
- 2458-9101
- OpenAlex
- W2793411514
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 9.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Sleep and Hypnosis (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- Cyberchondria Severity Scale, health anxiety, Turkish adaptation, psychometric validation, factor structure, university students
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