Volume 20, Issue 1 (1-2026)                   bjcp 2026, 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:   (8 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. 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). This study was descriptive-correlational in design and based on structural equation modeling. 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, Cyberchondria, Cognitive Control
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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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