INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY AND CYBERCHONDRIA: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PROBLEMATIC SOCIAL MEDIA USE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

Prior research has been conducted to assess the mediating effect of problematic social media use in the connection between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria. Further, research was carried out to study the moderating effect of digital health literacy on the association between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria. Data was obtained from undergraduate and postgraduate students. Purposive sampling technique was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS. All variables of the study showed good psychometric properties. The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (α =.93), Bergain Social Media Addiction Scale (α =.71), Digital Health Literacy Scale (α =.83), and Cyberchondria Severity Scale (α =.84) demonstrated satisfactory reliability. The results indicated that intolerance of uncertainty was significantly related to cyberchondria and this relation was partially mediated by problematic social media use. The moderating role of digital health literacy in this association was not significant. The results stress the mediatory role of problematic social media use between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria.