The relationship between neuroticism and cyberchondria: the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and metacognitive beliefs about health

The present study aimed to examine the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and health-related metacognitive beliefs in the association between neuroticism and cyberchondria. In this cross-sectional study, 396 students from the University of Tabriz in Iran were recruited through online advertisements. Participants completed self-report questionnaires, including the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS), the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12), and the Meta-Cognitions about Health Questionnaire (MCQ-HA). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and mediation analysis via the PROCESS macro. The results indicated a significant positive association between neuroticism and cyberchondria (r = .25, p < .01), neuroticism and intolerance of uncertainty (r = .31, p < .01), and neuroticism and metacognitive beliefs about health (r = .37, p < .01). Additionally, a significant positive correlation was found between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria (r = .31, p < .01), as well as between metacognitive beliefs about health and cyberchondria (r = .32, p < .01). Mediation analysis with 5,000 bootstrap resamples revealed that intolerance of uncertainty (95% CI [0.0882, 0.3744]) and metacognitive beliefs (95% CI [0.1186, 0.3277]) positively mediated the association between neuroticism and cyberchondria. By confirming the mediating roles of intolerance of uncertainty and metacognitive beliefs about health in the relationship between neuroticism and cyberchondria, our findings highlight the importance of addressing these variables in developing preventive and therapeutic interventions for cyberchondria.