Age, COVID-19-related fear, insomnia symptoms and cyberchondria: a mediation model

Introduction:
The subject of our study was the role of age, fear of COVID-19 infection and insomnia as predictors of cyberchondria in a Polish sample. We were also interested in whether insomnia mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 infection and cyberchondria in the entire sample.

Material and methods:
The study sample consisted of 504 people, including 420 women and 84 men, aged 18 to 76 years (M ±SD 30.49 ±10.28), who were recruited through an online platform. Cyberchondria was assessed using the Polish version of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale. An 11-point numerical rating scale was used to measure the intensity of fear of COVID-19 infection for oneself. Insomnia symptoms were measured using the Polish version of the Athenian Insomnia Scale.

Results:
The correlation coefficients indicated positive relationships between the fear of COVID-19 infection and insomnia and cyberchondria, while age correlated negatively with cyberchondria. The hierarchical multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that COVID-19-related fear was the best predictor of cyberchondria. Insomnia and age were also cyberchondria predictors, but to a lesser extent. The mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect relationship between COVID-19-related fear and cyberchondria through insomnia symptoms.

Conclusions:
We observed that COVID-19-related fear and, to a lesser extent, age and insomnia were cyberchondria predictors. We also found both direct and indirect relationships between COVID-19-related fear and cyberchondria through insomnia.