Adolescents’ and parents’ anxiety during COVID-19: is there a role of cyberchondriasis and emotion regulation through the internet?

COVID-19 pandemic period presents a unique context for the investigation of anxiety symptoms among adolescents and their parents. This study investigated adolescents’ and their parents’ anxiety symptoms, the effects of parental cyberchondriasis and adolescents’ emotion regulation on anxiety symptoms. The sample consisted of 155 adolescents (x̅ = 14.63, SD = 2.04) and one of their parents (N = 155). The results showed that after controlling for adolescents’ gender and emotion regulation, parental cyberchondriasis and anxiety accounted for an important variance in adolescents’ anxiety. Especially higher parental anxiety and compulsion were associated with higher anxiety, whereas higher distress was associated with lower anxiety. Besides, two dimensions of cyberchondriasis, compulsion, and distress, together with adolescent anxiety, predicted parental anxiety during COVID-19. While compulsion was negatively associated with anxiety, distress, and adolescent anxiety were positively associated with it. The dimensions of cyberchondriasis affected anxiety differently among adolescents and their parents. The results were discussed in terms of the implications for intervention from the ecological viewpoint.