The relationship between cyberchondria, e-health diet literacy, and mindful eating among young adults: a...

Cyberchondria refers to excessive and repetitive online health-related searching accompanied by increased health anxiety and reassurance-seeking behaviors. As individuals increasingly rely on digital platforms for health-related information, difficulties in evaluating and regulating online health information may contribute to maladaptive health-related cognitions and behaviors. In parallel, mindful eating reflects an adaptive self-regulation process in eating behavior, characterized by attention and awareness during food consumption. Within this framework, examining the associations between cyberchondria, e-health diet literacy, and mindful eating may provide insights into how digital health information processing relates to both psychological and behavioral health outcomes in young adults.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 342 healthy adults aged 18-35 years. Participants completed the Cyberchondria Severity Scale-12 (CSS-12), the e-Healthy Diet Literacy Questionnaire (e-HDLQ), and the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ). Differences according to sex and body mass index (BMI) were assessed using independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA. Relationships among variables were examined using Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression was applied to identify potential predictors of cyberchondria severity.

Women reported higher cyberchondria levels than men (CSS-12 total score, p = 0.025), particularly in the "Reassurance Seeking" subscale (p = 0.002). Women scored higher than men in the "Focused Eating" subscale of mindful eating (p = 0.033). No significant sex differences were observed in e-health diet literacy. No significant differences were found across BMI categories for cyberchondria, mindful eating, or e-health diet literacy. A weak but statistically significant negative correlation was observed between e-health diet literacy and cyberchondria (r = - 0.15, p < 0.01). Regression analysis indicated that e-health diet literacy was negatively associated with cyberchondria severity, whereas mindful eating was not significantly associated (R² = 0.025).

The findings suggest a modest inverse association between e-health diet literacy and cyberchondria in young adults, whereas mindful eating was not significantly associated. Although the explained variance was limited, further research is needed to explore additional psychological and behavioral determinants.