engleski

How is stress depicted on internet and how might this affect consumers?

In the general population, between 40 and 70% of us seek health information via the internet and approximately 30% seek information about anxiety, depression and stress. Yet, studies imply that health information found on the internet may be inaccurate or misleading. Beliefs that people have about their symptoms, which are at least partly formed by information found on-line, affect their emotions and health related behaviors. Recently, some studies have linked viewing stress as harmful to one's health with worse physical and mental health outcomes. In contrast, the reappraisal of a stress reaction as helpful may lead to more adaptive responses and performance. In this study, we examined the quality of information about stress, and whether stress is viewed as harmful or normal and helpful in particular, found on internet pages comprehensible to Croatian speakers. The information was obtained from the first 10 results using the Google search engine for the word "stress". This information was then coded using the following categories: occupation of the author of the text, citing of scientific literature, the definition of stress, positive or negative view of stress, triggers and consequences of stress and recommended stress management strategies. Results demonstrate that, for 50% of the pages examined, the author of the text is unknown. Most pages refer to the results of scientific research but do not cite any specific studies. Although some pages explain that stress is a natural defense mechanism, many depict stress as entirely or mostly negative and detrimental and devote most of its space to describing the consequences of stress and/or stress relief strategies. The possible effects on consumers of this information will be discussed within the CBT framework.

stress, internet, CBT, health, appraisal, beliefs

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