Sassenberg Kai, Greving Hannah
Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Social Processes Lab, Tübingen, Germany.
J Med Internet Res. 2016 Mar 4;18(3):e56. doi: 10.2196/jmir.5140.
The Internet is one of the primary sources for health information. However, in research, the effects of Internet use on the perception of one's own health have not received much attention so far.
This study tested how Internet use for acquiring health information and severity of illness influence patients with a chronic disease with regard to the perception of their own health. Negative psychological states are known to lead to preferential processing of positive information. In particular, the self-directed nature of Internet use provides room for such biases. Therefore, we predicted that patients experiencing negative health states more frequently, due to more frequent episodes of a chronic illness, will gain a more positive perception of their health if they use the Internet frequently to gain health information, but not if they use the Internet rarely. This effect was not expected for other sources of information.
A longitudinal questionnaire study with two measurement points-with a 7-month time lag-tested the hypothesis in a sample of patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (n=208). This study assessed patients' frequency of Internet use, their participation in online social support groups, their use of other sources of health information, and several indicators of the participants' perceptions of their own health. A structure equation model (SEM) was used to test the predictions separately for Internet searches and other sources of information.
Data analysis supported the prediction; the interaction between frequency of health-related information searches and frequency of episodes at the first measurement point (T1) was related to participants' positive perceptions of their own health at the second measurement point (T2) (B=.10, SE=.04, P=.02) above and beyond the perceptions of their own health at T1. When participants used the Internet relatively rarely (-1 SD), there was no relationship between frequency of episodes and positive perceptions of their own health (B=-.11, SE=.14, t203=-0.82, P=.41). In contrast, when participants used the Internet relatively often (+1 SD), the more frequently they had those episodes the more positive were the perceptions of their own health (B=.36, SE=.15, t203=2.43, P=.02). Additional SEM analyses revealed that this effect occurs exclusively when information is searched for on the Internet, but not when other sources of information are consulted, nor when online social support groups are joined.
The results of this study suggest that patients might process information from the Internet selectively, in an unbalanced, biased fashion, with the formation of a self-serving (ie, positive) perception of own health. At the same time, this bias contributes to the ability of patients to cope psychologically with their disease.
互联网是健康信息的主要来源之一。然而，在研究中，互联网使用对个人健康认知的影响迄今为止尚未受到太多关注。
本研究测试了获取健康信息的互联网使用情况和疾病严重程度如何影响慢性病患者对自身健康的认知。已知消极心理状态会导致对积极信息的优先处理。特别是，互联网使用的自我导向性质为这种偏差提供了空间。因此，我们预测，由于慢性病发作更频繁而更频繁经历消极健康状态的患者，如果他们频繁使用互联网获取健康信息，会对自己的健康有更积极的认知，但如果他们很少使用互联网则不会。对于其他信息来源，预计不会有这种效果。
一项纵向问卷调查研究，有两个测量点，时间间隔为7个月，在208名慢性炎症性肠病患者样本中检验了该假设。本研究评估了患者的互联网使用频率、他们参与在线社会支持小组的情况、他们对其他健康信息来源的使用，以及参与者对自身健康认知的几个指标。使用结构方程模型（SEM）分别针对互联网搜索和其他信息来源检验预测。
数据分析支持了该预测；在第一个测量点（T1），与健康相关的信息搜索频率和发作频率之间的交互作用与参与者在第二个测量点（T2）对自身健康的积极认知相关（B = 0.10，SE = 0.04，P = 0.02），超出了T1时他们对自身健康的认知。当参与者相对较少使用互联网（-1个标准差）时，发作频率与对自身健康的积极认知之间没有关系（B = -0.11，SE = 0.14，t203 = -0.82，P = 0.41）。相比之下，当参与者相对频繁使用互联网（+1个标准差）时，他们发作越频繁，对自身健康的认知就越积极（B = 0.36，SE = 0.15，t203 = 2.43，P = 0.02）。额外的SEM分析表明，这种效果仅在通过互联网搜索信息时出现，而在查阅其他信息来源或加入在线社会支持小组时不会出现。
本研究结果表明，患者可能会以一种不平衡、有偏差的方式选择性地处理来自互联网的信息，形成对自身健康的利己（即积极）认知。同时，这种偏差有助于患者在心理上应对疾病。
