The relationship between the stress experienced by parents and cyberchondria during the pandemic process

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the stress experienced by parents during the pandemic and their cyberchondria. The research was carried out in a descriptive and cross-sectional manner.Design/methodology/approachThe sample of the research: living in Turkey and has created 432 parents with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 15. Participant information form, parental stress scale and cyberchondria scale were used in the study. Data were collected through online surveys between July 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020.FindingsIn the study, when the scores obtained from the Parental Stress Scale and the Cyberchondria Scale were compared with the demographic characteristics, a significant difference was found between gender, age, marital status, education level, economic status, number of children and presence of chronic diseases (p < 0.05). It was determined that there is a significant difference between the responses of the parents regarding the pandemic process and the Parental Stress Scale and the Cyberchondria Scale (p < 0.05). A positive significant correlation was found between the Parental Stress Scale and the total and subdimensions of the Cyberchondria Scale (p < 0.05).Research limitations/implicationsThe research was carried out with only parents with children between the ages of 6 and 15, but it reveals the stress and cyberchondria of the parents during the pandemic.Originality/valueThe results obtained reflect the factors affecting the stress and cyberchondria levels experienced by parents during the pandemic process. Also, as the stress of the parent's increases, it has seen that the level of cyberchondria increases in parallel.