Volume 20, Issue 1 (4-2025)                   bjcp 2025, 20(1): 76-88 | Back to browse issues page

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The Structural Relationship between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Pathological Curiosity, Cognitive Control and Cyberchondria in a Non-Clinical Sample of University Students
Hanieh Ojaghi zadeh1 , Niloufar Mikaeli *2
1- Ph.D. Student in Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran
2- Pofessor, Department of Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran , nmikaeili@uma.ac.ir
Abstract:   (301 Views)
Cyberchondria is an emerging concept in health psychology, referring to excessive searching for medical information online, often accompanied by heightened anxiety and health-related worries. The present study aimed to examine The Structural Relationship Between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Pathological Curiosity, Cognitive Control and Cyberchondria  in a Non-Clinical Sample of University Students. This study was descriptive-correlational in design and based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included students of Mohaghegh Ardabili University. From ten faculties, three faculties—Agriculture and Natural Resources, Engineering, and Social Sciences—were randomly selected. Then, using a multi-stage cluster random sampling method, 376 students were selected. After obtaining informed consent, data were collected using the Cyberchondria Scale (McElroy & Shevlin, 2014), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (1995), the Morbid Curiosity Scale (Scrivner et al., 2021), and the Cognitive Control Scale (Gabrys et al., 2018). Data were analyzed using SPSS 27 and AMOS 24. The results indicated that OCD had a significant effect on cyberchondria both directly (β = 0.37, p < 0.001) and indirectly via cognitive control (β = 0.16, p < 0.01). Similarly, morbid curiosity showed both a direct (β = 0.26, p < 0.001) and an indirect (β = 0.12, p < 0.05) significant effect on cyberchondria. These findings highlight the crucial role of cognitive control and self-regulatory processes in reducing cyberchondria and may provide a basis for preventive and educational interventions among student populations.
Article number: 6
Keywords: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Morbid Curiosit, Cognitive Control, Cyberchondria
Full-Text [PDF 525 kb]   (7 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2024/12/10 | Revised: 2026/01/31 | Accepted: 2026/01/31 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/02/20 | Published: 2026/01/17
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