Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic is an inevitable topic nowadays, both in the media and our everyday conversations. At the very beginning, the pandemic was a kind of acute stress and it seemed that it would pass quickly. However, over time, it turned into chronic stress. Like any other chronic stress, this pandemic has left, and is still leaving significant consequences for mental health. Accordingly, the objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between situation perception (severity and vulnerability), anxiety, and some aspects of cyber behaviour – nomophobia and cyberchondria. The research was conducted of two measurement points (in the first and fourth week since the start of the pandemic, more precisely from March 13 to 20 and April 3 to 10, 2020), on a sample of male and female students in the Republic of Croatia (N1=358; N2=196). For the purposes of this study, the following measurement instruments were used: The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, Nomophobia Questionnaire, and Short Cyberchondria Scale. Results of the study suggest those individuals who perceive their vulnerability as greater and the situation as more serious experience higher levels of anxiety, nomophobia, and cyberchondria. Furthemore, the results indicate that students who experience more anxiety symptoms also experience higher levels of nomophobia, or cyberchondria. By examining the role of anxiety in explaining the connection between the perception of the situation and behaviour related to the use of digital technology, it was shown that anxiety is a partial mediator when the source variable is nomophobia, and a complete mediator in the model where cyberchondria is the source variable.