Trust and Credibility in Web-Based Health Information: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Background: Online sources are becoming increasingly important in health information seeking, such that they may have a significant effect on health care decisions and outcomes. Hence, given the wide range of different sources of online health information from different organisations and individuals, it is important to understand how information seekers evaluate and select the sources that they use, and, more specifically how they assess their credibility and trustworthiness. Objectives: This article reviews empirical studies on trust and credibility in the use of online health information. The article seeks to present a profile of the research conducted on trust and credibility in online health information seeking, to identify the factors that impact judgements of trustworthiness and credibility, and to explore the role of demographic factors affecting trust formation. On this basis, it aims to identify the gaps in current knowledge and to propose an agenda for future research. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted. Searches were conducted using a variety of combinations of the terms: online health information, trust, credibility, and their variants, in four multi-disciplinary and four health-oriented databases. Articles selected were published in English from 2000 onwards; this process generated 3827 unique records. After the application of exclusion criteria, this was reduced to a final dataset of 73 articles, which was analysed in full. Results: Interest in this topic has persisted over the last 15 years, with articles being published in medicine, social science and computer science, and focussing mostly on the USA and the UK. Documents in the dataset fell into three categories: those using trust or credibility as a dependent variable, those using trust or credibility as an independent variable, and studies of the demographic factors that influence the role of trust or credibility in online health information seeking. There is a consensus that in terms of website design, clear layout and design, interactive features and the authority of the owner have a positive effect on trust or credibility, whilst advertising has a negative effect. With regard to content features, authority of the author, ease of use and content have a positive effect on trust or credibility formation. Demographic factors influencing trust formation are age, gender and perceived health status. Conclusions: There is considerable scope for further research. This includes: increased clarity of the interaction between the variables associated with health information seeking; increased consistency on the measurement of trust and credibility; a greater focus on specific online health information sources; and, enhanced understanding of the impact of demographic variables on trust and credibility judgement

The evolution of Internet addiction: A global perspective

Kimberly Young’s early work on Internet addiction (IA)has been pioneering and her early writings on the topic inspired many others to carry out research in the area. Young's (2015) recent paper on the 'evolution of Internet addiction' featured very little European research, and did not consider the main international evidence that has contributed to our current knowledge about the conceptualization, epidemiology, etiology, and course of Internet-related disorders. This short commentary paper elaborates on important literature omitted by Young that the present authors believe may be of use to researchers. We also address statements made in Young’s (2015) commentary that are incorrect (and therefore misleading) and not systematically substantiated by empirical evidence

Genetic, environmental and stochastic factors in monozygotic twin discordance with a focus on epigenetic differences

PMCID: PMC3566971This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Precursor or Sequela: Pathological Disorders in People with Internet Addiction Disorder

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the roles of pathological disorders in Internet addiction disorder and identify the pathological problems in IAD, as well as explore the mental status of Internet addicts prior to addiction, including the pathological traits that may trigger Internet addiction disorder. Methods and Findings: 59 students were measured by Symptom CheckList-90 before and after they became addicted to the Internet. A comparison of collected data from Symptom Checklist-90 before Internet addiction and the data collected after Internet addiction illustrated the roles of pathological disorders among people with Internet addiction disorder. The obsessive-compulsive dimension was found abnormal before they became addicted to the Internet. After their addiction, significantly higher scores were observed for dimensions on depression, anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, and psychoticism, suggesting that these were outcomes of Internet addiction disorder. Dimensions on somatisation, paranoid ideation, and phobic anxiety did not change during the study period, signifying that these dimensions are not related to Internet addiction disorder. Conclusions: We can not find a solid pathological predictor for Internet addiction disorder. Internet addiction disorder ma

A preliminary investigation into the prevalence and prediction of problematic cell phone use

Abstract Background and aims Likening mobile phone use dependency to the classification of excessive behaviors may be necessarily equivalent in seriousness to previously established addictions such as problematic computing or excessive gambling. The aim of the study explores into the behavior of excessive use of mobile phones as a pathological behavior. Methods Two studies investigated criteria for problematic mobile phone usage by examining student (Study 1, N = 301) and nonstudent (Study 2, N = 362) responses to a set of adapted mobile phone addiction inventories. Study 1 investigated cell phone addiction inventories as constructs designed to measure problematic cell phone use. Additionally, Study 2 sought to predict age, depression, extraversion, emotional stability, impulse control, and self-esteem as independent variables that augment respondents' perceptions of problematic use. Results The results from Study 1 and Study 2 indicate that 10 to 25% of the participants tested exhibited problematic cell phone usage. Additionally, age, depression, extraversion, and low impulse control are the most suitable predictors for problematic use. Conclusions The results of the two studies indicate that problematic mobile phone use does occur and ought to be taken seriously by the psychological community. Presently, there is limited data providing conclusive evidence for a comprehensible categorization of cell phone addiction, as well as a unified explanatory model specific to problematic mobile phone use. Studies such as this one may contribute substantial findings, adding scientific significance, and offering a valuable submission for the ongoing progress of creating intervention frameworks relative to “virtual addictions”

Loneliness and Social Internet Use: Pathways to Reconnection in a Digital World?

With the rise of online social networking, social relationships are increasingly developed and maintained in a digital domain. Drawing conclusions about the impact of the digital world on loneliness is difficult because there are contradictory findings, and cross-sectional studies dominate the literature, making causation difficult to establish. In this review, we present our theoretical model and propose that there is a bidirectional and dynamic relationship between loneliness and social Internet use. When the Internet is used as a way station on the route to enhancing existing relationships and forging new social connections, it is a useful tool for reducing loneliness. But when social technologies are used to escape the social world and withdraw from the “social pain” of interaction, feelings of loneliness are increased. We propose that loneliness is also a determinant of how people interact with the digital world. Lonely people express a preference for using the Internet for social interaction and are more likely to use the Internet in a way that displaces time spent in offline social activities. This suggests that lonely people may need support with their social Internet use so that they employ it in a way that enhances existing friendships and/or to forge new ones

Interleukin 12B (IL12B) Genetic Variation and Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Study of Cohorts from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, United States and Argentina

We examined whether polymorphisms in interleukin-12B (IL12B) associate with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in two West African populations (from The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau) and in two independent populations from North and South America. Nine polymorphisms (seven SNPs, one insertion/deletion, one microsatellite) were analyzed in 321 PTB cases and 346 controls from Guinea-Bissau and 280 PTB cases and 286 controls from The Gambia. For replication we studied 281 case and 179 control African-American samples and 221 cases and 144 controls of European ancestry from the US and Argentina. First-stage single locus analyses revealed signals of association at IL12B 3′ UTR SNP rs3212227 (unadjusted allelic p = 0.04; additive genotypic p = 0.05, OR = 0.78, 95% CI [0.61–0.99]) in Guinea-Bissau and rs11574790 (unadjusted allelic p = 0.05; additive genotypic p = 0.05, OR = 0.76, 95% CI [0.58–1.00]) in The Gambia. Association of rs3212227 was then replicated in African-Americans (rs3212227 allelic p = 0.002; additive genotypic p = 0.05, OR = 0.78, 95% CI [0.61–1.00]); most importantly, in the African-American cohort, multiple significant signals of association (seven of the nine polymorphisms tested) were detected throughout the gene. These data suggest that genetic variation in IL12B, a highly relevant candidate gene, is a risk factor for PTB in populations of African ancestry, although further studies will be required to confirm this association and identify the precise mechanism underlying it

Constantly connected – The effects of smart-devices on mental health

A number of studies have demonstrated the mental health implications of excessive Internet-browsing, gaming, texting, emailing, social networking, and phone calling. However, no study to date has investigated the impact of being able to conduct all of these activities on one device. A smart-device (i.e., smart-phone or tablet) allows these activities to be conducted anytime and anywhere, with unknown mental health repercussions. This study investigated the association between smart-device use, smart-device involvement and mental health. Two-hundred and seventy-four participants completed an online survey comprising demographic questions, questions concerning smart-device use, the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire, the Internet Addiction Test and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales. Higher smart-device involvement was significantly associated with higher levels of depression and stress but not anxiety. However, smart-device use was not significantly associated with depression, anxiety or stress. These findings suggest that it is the nature of the relationship a person has with their smart-device that is predictive of depression and stress, rather than the extent of use

Digital girl:Cyberfeminism and the emancipation potential of digital entrepreneurship in emerging economies

Digital entrepreneurship has been described as a “great leveler” in terms of equalizing the entrepreneurial playing field for women. However, little is known of the emancipatory possibilities offered by digital entrepreneurship for women constrained by social and cultural practices such as male guardianship of female relatives and legally enforced gender segregation. In order to address this research gap, this paper examines women’s engagement in digital entrepreneurship in emerging economies with restrictive social and cultural practices. In so doing, we draw upon the analytical frameworks provided by entrepreneurship as emancipation and cyberfeminism. Using empirical data from an exploratory investigation of entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia, we examine how women use digital technologies in the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities. Our findings reveal that women in Saudi Arabia use digital entrepreneurship to transform their embodied selves and lived realities rather than to escape gender embodiment as offered by the online environment