Examining the relationship between teachers' cyberchondria levels and digital literacy levels

With mobile technologies and mobile internet, a lot of information can be easily accessed anywhere, at any time. This easy access has made it possible for individuals to easily access health information in online environments, as well as any information. However, the abundance of information accessed via the internet has created hesitations about the accuracy of this information. This situation has increased health anxiety in individuals. In addition, it has led to the emergence of the concept of cyberchondria, which is referred to in the literature as individuals intensively following disease news and articles. While the uncontrolled and unsupervised spread of health news increases day by day, it has tended to increase even more during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the risk of cyberchondria has increased. Some suggestions are offered in the literature to prevent the prevalence of cyberchondria in society and reduce its severity. Some of these are that individuals have the ability to access accurate and useful information from the internet and analyze this information. These skills indicate digital literacy, which has become important for individuals who spend time with technology recently. Digital literacy skills include skills such as accessing accurate information, organizing and interpreting information. As the digital literacy level of an individual and the public increases, the number and impact of possible negative events will tend to decrease. Because in this age equipped with technology, the use of information technologies and the correct processing of information obtained through information technologies are important. In this context, the aim of the thesis research is to examine the relationship between teachers' cyberchondria levels and digital literacy levels. When the relevant literature is examined, it is seen that thesis research and articles on this subject are insufficient. It is seen that the studies carried out are generally carried out in health sciences. However, conducting such studies in the field of Computer and Educational Technologies, which is of great importance in terms of gaining digital literacy skills, will bring an interdisciplinary perspective to prevent the prevalence of cyberchondria. In this respect, it is thought that the thesis research is important in terms of teachers' digital literacy skills and will contribute to the relevant fields. In the study, relational screening method, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. A research form consisting of a scale and demographic data prepared by the researcher was used as the data collection tool. The necessary ethics committee permission was obtained for the collection of data. In the study, the Digital Literacy Scale developed by Hamutoğlu et al. (2017) and the Cyberchondria Severity Scale-Short Form developed by Söyler et al. (2021) were used to determine the digital literacy and cyberchondria levels of teachers. The quantitative data obtained were analyzed with the SPSS 27.0 statistical package program. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test were used in the analysis process. Pearson correlation coefficient technique was used to examine the relationship between teachers' cyberchondria levels and digital literacy levels. According to the findings obtained as a result of the analysis, there is no significant relationship between the cyberchondria levels of teachers and their digital literacy levels, while weak and negative significant relationships were found between cyber anxiety and cyber strain, which are sub-dimensions of the cyberchondria scale, and digital literacy. In addition to these findings, teachers' digital literacy levels differ significantly according to the variables of age, gender, education level, being a parent, the type of institution they work in, the technological device preferred for the internet and the purpose of internet use. In addition, it was determined that the cyberchondria severity levels of teachers did not differ in terms of the variables of age, gender, marital status, education level, income status, being a parent, the type of institution, having a chronic disease, the technological device preferred for the internet and the purpose of internet use. Within the scope of these findings, discussions and conclusions were carried out in the thesis research.