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Guthrie AJ, Paredes-Echeverri S, Bleier C, Adams C, Millstein DJ, Ranford J, Perez DL. Mechanistic studies in pathological health anxiety: A systematic review and emerging conceptual framework. J Affect Disord 2024; 358:222-249. [PMID: 38718945 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pathological health anxiety (PHA) (e.g., hypochondriasis and illness anxiety disorder) is common in medical settings and associated with increased healthcare costs. However, the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms contributing to the development and maintenance of PHA are incompletely understood. METHODS We performed a systematic review to characterize the mechanistic understanding of PHA. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase databases were searched to find articles published between 1/1/1990 and 12/31/2022 employing a behavioral task and/or physiological measures in individuals with hypochondriasis, illness anxiety disorder, and PHA more broadly. RESULTS Out of 9141 records identified, fifty-seven met inclusion criteria. Article quality varied substantially across studies, and was overall inadequate. Cognitive, behavioral, and affective findings implicated in PHA included health-related attentional and memory recall biases, a narrow health concept, threat confirming thought patterns, use of safety-seeking behaviors, and biased explicit and implicit affective processing of health-related information among other observations. There is initial evidence supporting a potential overestimation of interoceptive stimuli in those with PHA. Neuroendocrine, electrophysiology, and brain imaging research in PHA are particularly in their early stages. LIMITATIONS Included articles evaluated PHA categorically, suggesting that sub-threshold and dimensional health anxiety considerations are not contextualized. CONCLUSIONS Within an integrated cognitive-behavioral-affective and predictive processing formulation, we theorize that sub-optimal illness and health concepts, altered interoceptive modeling, biased illness-based predictions and attention, and aberrant prediction error learning are mechanisms relevant to PHA requiring more research. Comprehensively investigating the pathophysiology of PHA offers the potential to identify adjunctive diagnostic biomarkers and catalyze new biologically-informed treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Guthrie
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sara Paredes-Echeverri
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cristina Bleier
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Caitlin Adams
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel J Millstein
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jessica Ranford
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Occupational Therapy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David L Perez
- Functional Neurological Disorder Unit, Division of Behavioral Neurology and Integrated Brain Medicine, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Slotta T, Wolters C, Marx Z, Witthöft M, Gerlach AL, Pohl A. Respiratory Interoception and Pathological Illness Anxiety: Disentangling Bias. Psychosom Med 2023; 85:778-784. [PMID: 37594228 DOI: 10.1097/psy.0000000000001244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Biased interoception decoupled from physiology might be relevant in the etiology of pathological illness anxiety (PIA). Empirical evidence for interoceptive deviations in illness anxiety is scarce but potentially informative to optimize treatments. We hypothesized that persons with PIA differ fundamentally in the classification of bodily sensations from those without PIA. METHODS In a respiratory categorization task, participants breathed into a pulmonary training device. Inspiration effort was varied by eight resistive loads. The lower/higher four loads were introduced as belonging to arbitrary categories "A"/"B," respectively. Participants memorized respiratory sensations in a first experimental block and were asked to label the resistances in a second block. We calculated the sensitivity of resistance classification according to category and response bias in terms of categorical misclassification. Data of 39 participants with PIA and 35 controls were compared with regard to sensitivity and response bias by group, resistive load, and their interaction in a multiple regression. RESULTS With similar sensitivity, patients more often labeled loads above the categorical border erroneously as belonging to category A, thus underestimating their resistance ( β = -0.06, p = .001; η2 = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Individuals with PIA showed a systematic "wait and see" approach. Altered respiroception in PIA might stem from biased perception during training phase, the recognition phase, biased memory, or a combination of these. Its exact characteristics remain unknown, and future research must address the challenge of developing reliable and valid paradigms accounting for the variability of interoceptive biases. REGISTRATION This work was preregistered on OSF ( https://osf.io/9shcw ).
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Affiliation(s)
- Timo Slotta
- From the Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (Slotta, Wolters, Marx, Gerlach, Pohl), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany; and Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Experimental Psychopathology (Witthöft), Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Gehrt TB, Obermann M, Toth FE, Frostholm L. Adverse childhood experiences in patients with severe health anxiety: No evidence for an increased frequency compared to patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Scand J Psychol 2022; 63:565-572. [PMID: 35778854 PMCID: PMC9796245 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Theoretical models of health anxiety emphasize adverse childhood experiences in the development of the disorder, but few studies examine such events in patients with severe health anxiety and the results are difficult to compare across studies. The present study examined adult retrospective reports of illness-related and traumatic childhood experiences in 31 patients with severe health anxiety, 32 non-clinical control participants, and a clinical control group of 33 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. No evidence of an increased frequency of adverse childhood experiences in patients with severe health anxiety was found. However, patients with severe health anxiety who had experienced the death of a friend or family member or a major upheaval during childhood, perceived these events as having been more traumatic than the control participants. These findings suggest that biases in how adverse childhood experiences are interpreted or remembered might play a role in severe health anxiety. The findings are discussed in relation to the cognitive behavioral model of health anxiety, and some of the processes in interpretation and memory that could explain how adverse childhood experiences might play a role in the development and maintenance of severe health anxiety are outlined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tine B. Gehrt
- Center on Autobiographical Memory ResearchAarhus UniversityAarhusDenmark
| | - Marie‐Louise Obermann
- Research Clinic for Functional DisordersAarhus University HospitalAarhusDenmark,Clinic for OCD and Anxiety DisordersAarhus University HospitalAarhusDenmark
| | - Fruzsina Eva Toth
- Clinic for OCD and Anxiety DisordersAarhus University HospitalAarhusDenmark,Regional Psychiatry Unit, Silkeborg HospitalCentral Denmark RegionSilkeborgDenmark
| | - Lisbeth Frostholm
- Research Clinic for Functional DisordersAarhus University HospitalAarhusDenmark,Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus UniversityAarhusDenmark
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Berens S, Banzhaf P, Baumeister D, Gauss A, Eich W, Schaefert R, Tesarz J. Relationship between adverse childhood experiences and illness anxiety in irritable bowel syndrome - The impact of gender. J Psychosom Res 2020; 128:109846. [PMID: 31759196 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.109846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder with a complex biopsychosocial etiopathogenesis. Various psychosocial factors like adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and illness anxiety appear to be relevant, but underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Furthermore, there are indicators of gender specific effects of ACE on IBS. Therefore, this study analyzed group differences between IBS patients and healthy controls (HCs) according to ACE and illness anxiety, and the relationship between ACE and illness anxiety by taking gender differences into consideration. METHODS A cross-sectional multi-center study was conducted comparing IBS patients with HCs. Illness anxiety was recorded using the Whiteley-Index-7, childhood adversities via the 10-item Adverse-Childhood-Experiences-score, anxiety by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder seven-item questionnaire and depressive symptoms using the nine-item depression module of the patient-health-questionnaire. Group differences between IBS patients and HCs were analyzed and correlation analyses were performed. RESULTS Overall, 127 gender and education matched participants per group were included. Compared to HCs, IBS patients were characterized by higher prevalences for adverse childhood experiences (63.8% vs. 48.0%, p = .02, OR = 1.33) and increased levels of illness anxiety (p < .001, η2 = 0.595). Taking into account gender specific effects, there was a significant correlation between adverse childhood experiences and illness anxiety in female IBS patients, but not in male (r = 0.242, p = .03 vs. r = 0.162, p = .29). However, after controlling for depression and anxiety, this correlation disappeared. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest a possible gender-specific association of ACE with illness anxiety in female IBS patients that might be linked to increased levels of depression and anxiety. TRIAL REGISTRATION DRKS00011685.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Berens
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Hauptstraße 47-51, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Philine Banzhaf
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David Baumeister
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Annika Gauss
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Eich
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rainer Schaefert
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Hebelstrasse 2, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 61, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jonas Tesarz
- Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Blackman G, Cherfi Y, Morrin H, Ellis CM, Bashford J, Ruths F, David AS. The Association Between Benign Fasciculations and Health Anxiety: A Report of Two Cases and a Systematic Review of the Literature. PSYCHOSOMATICS 2019; 60:499-507. [DOI: 10.1016/j.psym.2019.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2019] [Revised: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Reiser SJ, Power HA, Wright KD. Examining the relationships between childhood abuse history, attachment, and health anxiety. J Health Psychol 2019; 26:1085-1095. [DOI: 10.1177/1359105319869804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between childhood abuse experiences and health anxiety in adulthood and investigated the role of attachment in this relationship. In total, 181 university students (aged 18–29 years) completed a battery of measures that assessed childhood abuse, health anxiety, and attachment orientation. Health anxiety was associated with all categories of childhood abuse and overall childhood abuse severity. Anxious attachment partially mediated the relationship between overall childhood abuse and health anxiety in adulthood. The results further our understanding of the relationship between childhood abuse and health anxiety in adulthood and provide support for the interpersonal model of health anxiety.
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Reddy B, Chaturvedi SK, Desai G, Manjunatha N, Guruprasad S. Health-related life events in patients with somatic symptom disorders: A case control study. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2019; 65:265-270. [PMID: 30969143 DOI: 10.1177/0020764019842278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The positive association between adverse life events and somatoform disorders is a consistent observation. But no systematic studies have evaluated the relationship between health-related life events (HLEs) in patients with somatic symptom disorder (SSD)/somatoform disorders. AIM To examine the nature and relationship of HLE in patients with SSD and to assess the correlates of HLE. METHODS A total of 50 adult patients with SSD and 50 matched healthy controls from a Neuropsychiatric hospital were recruited. Sociodemographic interview, scale for assessment of somatic symptoms (SASS), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) and a semi-structured interview schedule to gather information on HLE were used. RESULTS Patients in the SSD group had a significantly higher number of total HLE in general (4.72 ± 2.63, 3.36 ± 1.92; p = .004), major HLE (1.48 ± 1.45, 0.68 ± 0.94; p = .006), during their lifetime in comparison to controls. Infections, trauma, non-communicable diseases and reproductive system-related diseases were the more common types of HLE in SSD group. CONCLUSION Our findings may implicate a role of major HLE of patients and HLE of their family members in the pathophysiology of SSD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Santosh Kumar Chaturvedi
- 2 Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, India
| | - Geetha Desai
- 2 Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, India
| | - Narayana Manjunatha
- 2 Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, India
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Higgins-Chen AT, Abdallah SB, Dwyer JB, Kaye AP, Angarita GA, Bloch MH. Severe Illness Anxiety Treated by Integrating Inpatient Psychotherapy With Medical Care and Minimizing Reassurance. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:150. [PMID: 30967801 PMCID: PMC6438952 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Illness anxiety disorder (IAD, formerly hypochondriasis) is characterized by preoccupation with fear of serious illness despite medical reassurance. IAD is common, debilitating, challenging to treat, and results in high healthcare utilization. Outpatient management of IAD is challenging because patients can compulsively seek reassurance from numerous providers, which interferes with learning more productive coping skills. We present the case of a woman with severe IAD who presented to the emergency room with increasing frequency over several months, despite regular outpatient medical visits and escalating psychiatric care. We made the unusual decision to hospitalize her for IAD for 1 month, in the absence of typical hospitalization criteria. This hospitalization allowed us to consolidate all medical and psychiatric care into a single provider team and train all staff and family to communicate with her in a consistent manner. We successfully treated her by integrating a general cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol into medical care and decision-making. In response to her numerous health concerns, we minimized medical work-up, reassurance, and reactive medication changes, and instead used the concerns as opportunities to reinforce the psychotherapy. This approach allowed us to simplify her medication regimen and manage her co-morbid hypertension and vitamin deficiencies. Though inpatient hospitalization is likely infeasible in most cases of IAD, outpatient providers may create similar treatment plans based on the example of our case report, without needing highly specialized expertise. Such a plan would require a straightforward understanding of IAD psychology, which we review here, combined with readily accessible tools including a universal CBT protocol, online CBT courses, and clinical symptom scales. We discuss our approach for responding to health concerns, maintaining therapeutic alliance, integrating CBT principles into patient interactions, and managing medications. Since patients with IAD share health concerns with all providers, staff, and family, we also include our own IAD communication guide, appropriate for a general audience, that demonstrates how to respond in these conversations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert T Higgins-Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Sarah B Abdallah
- Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Jennifer B Dwyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.,Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Alfred P Kaye
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.,Veterans Administration National Center for PTSD, West Haven, CT, United States
| | - Gustavo A Angarita
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Michael H Bloch
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States.,Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
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Behavioral Health of Gulf Coast Residents 6 Years After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Role of Trauma History. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2018; 13:497-503. [PMID: 30253814 DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2018.84] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between oil spill exposure, trauma history, and behavioral health 6 years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS). We hypothesized that prior trauma would exacerbate the relationship between oil spill exposure and behavioral health problems. METHODS The sample included 2,520 randomly selected adults in coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico. Participants reported their level of oil spill exposure, trauma history, depression, anxiety/worry, illness anxiety, and alcohol use. RESULTS Individuals with more traumatic experiences had a significantly higher risk for all measured behavioral health problems after controlling for demographic factors and DHOS exposure. Those with higher levels of DHOS exposure were not at greater risk for behavioral health problems after controlling for prior trauma, with the exception of illness anxiety. There was no evidence that trauma history moderated the association between DHOS exposure and behavioral health. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that trauma exposure may be a better indicator of long-term behavioral health risk than DHOS exposure among disaster-prone Gulf Coast residents. DHOS exposure may be a risk factor for illness anxiety but not more general behavioral health concerns. Trauma history did not appear to exacerbate risk for behavioral health problems among Gulf residents exposed to the DHOS. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:497-503).
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Thorgaard MV, Frostholm L, Rask CU. Childhood and family factors in the development of health anxiety: A systematic review. CHILDRENS HEALTH CARE 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/02739615.2017.1318390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mette Viller Thorgaard
- The Research Clinic for Functional Disorders and Psychosomatics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Lisbeth Frostholm
- The Research Clinic for Functional Disorders and Psychosomatics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Charlotte Ulrikka Rask
- The Research Clinic for Functional Disorders and Psychosomatics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Research Department, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark
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11
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Hypochondriasis Differs From Panic Disorder and Social Phobia: Specific Processes Identified Within Patient Groups. J Nerv Ment Dis 2017; 205:227-233. [PMID: 27805984 DOI: 10.1097/nmd.0000000000000613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Studies of the comorbidity of hypochondriasis have indicated high rates of cooccurrence with other anxiety disorders. In this study, the contrast among hypochondriasis, panic disorder, and social phobia was investigated using specific processes drawing on cognitive-perceptual models of hypochondriasis. Affective, behavioral, cognitive, and perceptual processes specific to hypochondriasis were assessed with 130 diagnosed participants based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria (66 with hypochondriasis, 32 with panic disorder, and 32 with social phobia). All processes specific to hypochondriasis were more intense for patients with hypochondriasis in contrast to those with panic disorder or social phobia (0.61 < d < 2.67). No differences were found between those with hypochondriasis with comorbid disorders and those without comorbid disorders. Perceptual processes were shown to best discriminate between patients with hypochondriasis and those with panic disorder.
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Changes in Free Symptom Attributions in Hypochondriasis after Cognitive Therapy and Exposure Therapy. Behav Cogn Psychother 2016; 44:601-14. [PMID: 27126076 DOI: 10.1017/s1352465816000163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive-behavioural therapy can change dysfunctional symptom attributions in patients with hypochondriasis. Past research has used forced-choice answer formats, such as questionnaires, to assess these misattributions; however, with this approach, idiosyncratic attributions cannot be assessed. Free associations are an important complement to existing approaches that assess symptom attributions. AIMS With this study, we contribute to the current literature by using an open-response instrument to investigate changes in freely associated attributions after exposure therapy (ET) and cognitive therapy (CT) compared with a wait list (WL). METHOD The current study is a re-examination of a formerly published randomized controlled trial (Weck, Neng, Richtberg, Jakob and Stangier, 2015) that investigated the effectiveness of CT and ET. Seventy-three patients with hypochondriasis were randomly assigned to CT, ET or a WL, and completed a 12-week treatment (or waiting period). Before and after the treatment or waiting period, patients completed an Attribution task in which they had to spontaneously attribute nine common bodily sensations to possible causes in an open-response format. RESULTS Compared with the WL, both CT and ET reduced the frequency of somatic attributions regarding severe diseases (CT: Hedges's g = 1.12; ET: Hedges's g = 1.03) and increased the frequency of normalizing attributions (CT: Hedges's g = 1.17; ET: Hedges's g = 1.24). Only CT changed the attributions regarding moderate diseases (Hedges's g = 0.69). Changes in somatic attributions regarding mild diseases and psychological attributions were not observed. CONCLUSIONS Both CT and ET are effective for treating freely associated misattributions in patients with hypochondriasis. This study supplements research that used a forced-choice assessment.
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Weck F, Esch S, Rohrmann S. The role of disgust in patients with hypochondriasis. ANXIETY STRESS AND COPING 2014; 27:576-86. [PMID: 24325445 DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2013.873793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Theoretically, disgust sensitivity and disgust proneness could play an important role in hypochondriasis, since disgust is a defensive emotion widely believed to protect the organism from illness. However, empirical evidence to support this hypothesis has so far been based only on nonclinical samples, so that the importance and specificity of disgust for hypochondriasis remains unclear. In the current study, 36 patients with hypochondriasis, 27 with an anxiety disorder, and 29 healthy controls completed several measures which included the assessment of disgust sensitivity (Scale for the Assessment of Disgust Sensitivity) and disgust proneness (Questionnaire for the Assessment of Disgust Proneness). We found that patients with hypochondriasis and those with an anxiety disorder had higher scores than those of the healthy controls for several measures of disgust proneness. Moreover, measures of hypochondriacal characteristics were associated with those of disgust proneness and disgust sensitivity. However, no differences were found between patients with hypochondriasis and those with anxiety disorders, with respect to disgust proneness and disgust sensitivity. Therefore, it can be assumed that disgust proneness and disgust sensitivity seem to be less specific than previously suggested for the development and maintenance of hypochondriasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Weck
- a Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy , Goethe-University of Frankfurt , Frankfurt , Germany
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