Irrational health beliefs and health anxiety
Abstract
The Irrational Health Belief Scale (IHBS) assesses the tendency to appraise health-related information in an irrational manner. Despite the central role that dysfunctional assumptions about health play in the cognitive-behavioral model of hypochondriasis and health anxiety, researchers have not examined the relation between health anxiety and the types of irrational health beliefs assessed by the IHBS. Two samples (n = 198, n = 295) of students completed the IHBS and measures of anxiety and health anxiety. In both studies, the IHBS was correlated with health anxiety, and this association was mediated by anxiety. These findings suggest that the range of dysfunctional beliefs associated with health anxiety is greater than was initially described by the cognitive-behavioral model.
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These dysfunctional beliefs are key vulnerability and maintaining factors in health anxiety, and are argued to develop in response to aversive learning experiences during childhood or later in life.
“These beliefs are key vulnerability and maintaining factors in health anxiety [42, 43], and are argued to develop in response to aversive learning experiences during childhood or later in life, such as the death or illness of an attachment figure [44].”
From Illness Anxiety Disorder: A Review of the Current Research and Future Directions (2024) · cites this paper as [42]
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“These beliefs are key vulnerability and maintaining factors in health anxiety [42, 43], and are argued to develop in response to aversive learning experiences during childhood or later in life, such as the death or illness of an attachment figure [44].”
BackgroundInterpretation bias in health anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis
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- Authors
- Fulton, J. J., Marcus, D. K., & Merkey, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern Mississippi (US)
- Corresponding author
- Marcus, David K.
- ORCID
- Marcus, David K.
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-12-22
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 527-538
- ISSN
- 0021-9762 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2108352869
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- health anxiety, cognitive-behavioral model, dysfunctional attitudes, anxiety, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Cognition, Female, Health Status, Humans, Hypochondriasis, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult
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