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Abstract
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Cyberchondria, illness anxiety, and self-esteem are three seemingly unrelated concepts that
are quite intertwined. This research investigates the mediating role of illness anxiety in the
relationship between self-esteem and cyberchondria in students. The current research design
is descriptive and correlational. The population studied in the current research included the
students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, 262 people were selected by multi-stage
cluster random sampling. McElroy and Shulin's cyberchondria questionnaire, Salkoskis and
Warwick's health anxiety questionnaire, and Rosenberg's self-esteem questionnaire were
used to collect the data. The data analysis was done using SPSS 24 and Lisrel 8 software.
The results showed that self-esteem has a direct effect on cyberchondria (β= -0.08) and
illness anxiety (β= -0.44). Also, illness anxiety is related to cyberchondria (β= 0.73). Further,
the results showed that illness anxiety can indirectly mediate the relationship between selfesteem and cyberchondria (β= -0.32). The evaluation of the hypothetical model of the
research using fit indices showed that the hypothetical model fits with the measurement
model. The results showed that illness anxiety can mediate the relationship between selfesteem and cyberchondria. Cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) including cognitive
restructuring and exposure therapy can help people to challenge their irrational thoughts and
manage their anxiety.
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