University of Twente Student Theses
Scrolling through misinformation : health anxiety and media trust among Dutch Generation Z.
Groothuis, Pem (2025) Scrolling through misinformation : health anxiety and media trust among Dutch Generation Z.
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| Abstract: | Background: Health misinformation spreads rapidly through social media and may contribute to increased health anxiety and declining media trust, especially among Generation Z. This study investigates the relationship between health misinformation, health anxiety and media trust among Dutch Generation Z, focusing on the role of misinformation recognition and previous misinformation experiences. In addition, the moderating effects of emotional involvement, trait anxiety and media literacy are analysed. Method: A cross-sectional online survey study was conducted among 198 Dutch adolescents (16 - 29 years). Participants were recruited via social media and educational institutions. Validated scales were used to measure recognising and experiencing health misinformation, health anxiety, media trust, emotional involvement, trait anxiety, and media literacy. Data analysis was conducted with linear regression and moderation subgroup analysis. Results: The results show a significant negative relationship between recognising health misinformation and health anxiety. In addition, a negative relationship was found between experiences with health misinformation and media trust. No relationships were found for the other direct correlations. The moderation analysis shows that trait anxiety eliminates the negative relationship between misinformation recognition and health anxiety, while media literacy weakens the negative relationship between experiences with health misinformation and media trust. Other moderations were not significant. Conclusion: The results show that recognizing misinformation reduces health anxiety, but its effectiveness depends on individual differences, such as psychological predispositions. Misinformation experiences go hand in hand with lower media confidence, with media literacy acting as a protective factor. This underlines the importance of both cognitive and emotional factors in the processing of misinformation. Future interventions should focus not only on media literacy, but also on psychological resilience to misinformation. Keywords: health misinformation, health anxiety, media trust, generation Z, emotional involvement, trait anxiety, media literacy |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Science MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/106040 |
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