EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL CONSEQUENCES OF ONLINE HEALTH INFORMATION-SEEKING: THE ROLE OF EHEALTH LITERACY

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the Internet has become a very important and easily accessible health resource. More than that, at a global level, young adults use the Internet most often to search information about health. The aim of this paper was to study the extent to which the level of eHealth Literacy and internal health locus of control moderate the relationship between internet health information seeking and emotional and behavioral consequences among university students. Online health information seeking was associated both with increased emotional distress and engaging in activities that promote health. Moreover, eHealth Literacy was demonstrated as a protective factor against emotional distress associated with online health information seeking. This protective effect was observed particularly when the students had lower levels of internal health locus of control. This is the first study that demonstrates the protective effect of eHealth literacy in Romania.

KEYWORDS: internet health information seeking, eHealth Literacy, Cyberchondria, students, health behaviors

PAGES: 327-345