Impact of Cyberchondria on Unverified Health Information Sharing: A Moderated Mediation Approach

ABSTRACT People often share health information without adequate verification, which contributes to the growing spread of health misinformation on digital platforms. While previous studies have explored different cognitive and psychological factors underlying such unverified sharing, limited attention has been given to cyberchondria, a pattern of excessive and anxiety‐driven online health information seeking. Grounded in the Stressor‐Strain‐Outcome (SSO) framework, this study proposed a mediated moderation model to link cyberchondria to unverified health information sharing. Utilizing data from a three‐wave panel survey conducted in China, the results demonstrate that cyberchondria is positively associated with unverified health information sharing, and this association is partially mediated by information overload. Furthermore, the indirect relationship appears stronger among individuals with higher beliefs in the reliability of their information sources, while it is not statistically significant among those with lower beliefs. These findings highlight the importance of understanding cyberchondria not only as an individual mental health concern but also as a pathological information behavior that contributes to the broader dynamics of misinformation spread in digital health environments.