Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery
Abstract Severe health anxiety (HA) is characterized by excessive worry and anxiety about one's health, often accompanied by distressing intrusive imagery of signs of a serious illness or potentially receiving bad news about having a life-threatening disease. However, the emotional responses to...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54985-y |
| _version_ | 1797274793794338816 |
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| author | Christoph Benke Laura-Marie Wallenfels Gaby M. Bleichhardt Christiane A. Melzig |
| author_facet | Christoph Benke Laura-Marie Wallenfels Gaby M. Bleichhardt Christiane A. Melzig |
| author_sort | Christoph Benke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Severe health anxiety (HA) is characterized by excessive worry and anxiety about one's health, often accompanied by distressing intrusive imagery of signs of a serious illness or potentially receiving bad news about having a life-threatening disease. However, the emotional responses to these illness-related mental images in relation to HA have not been fully elucidated. Emotional responses to mental imagery of 142 participants were assessed in a well-controlled script-driven imagery task, systematically comparing emotional responses to illness-related imagery with neutral and standard fear imagery. The results revealed that participants reported higher anxiety, aversion, emotional arousal, and a stronger avoidance tendency during imagery of fear and illness-related scenes compared to neutral scenes. Importantly, the emotional modulation varied by the level of HA, indicating that individuals with higher HA experienced stronger emotional responses to illness-related imagery. This association between HA and fearful imagery could not be better accounted for by other psychological factors such as trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, somatic symptom severity, or symptoms of depression and anxiety. Fearful responding to standard threat material was not associated with HA. The present findings highlight the importance of considering fear responding to mental imagery in understanding and addressing HA. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:03:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27a10a312cc54315b5b061d0285515ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:03:04Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-27a10a312cc54315b5b061d0285515ee2024-03-05T19:00:02ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-02-0114111010.1038/s41598-024-54985-yHealth anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imageryChristoph Benke0Laura-Marie Wallenfels1Gaby M. Bleichhardt2Christiane A. Melzig3Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University of MarburgDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University of MarburgDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University of MarburgDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University of MarburgAbstract Severe health anxiety (HA) is characterized by excessive worry and anxiety about one's health, often accompanied by distressing intrusive imagery of signs of a serious illness or potentially receiving bad news about having a life-threatening disease. However, the emotional responses to these illness-related mental images in relation to HA have not been fully elucidated. Emotional responses to mental imagery of 142 participants were assessed in a well-controlled script-driven imagery task, systematically comparing emotional responses to illness-related imagery with neutral and standard fear imagery. The results revealed that participants reported higher anxiety, aversion, emotional arousal, and a stronger avoidance tendency during imagery of fear and illness-related scenes compared to neutral scenes. Importantly, the emotional modulation varied by the level of HA, indicating that individuals with higher HA experienced stronger emotional responses to illness-related imagery. This association between HA and fearful imagery could not be better accounted for by other psychological factors such as trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, somatic symptom severity, or symptoms of depression and anxiety. Fearful responding to standard threat material was not associated with HA. The present findings highlight the importance of considering fear responding to mental imagery in understanding and addressing HA.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54985-yIllness anxietyMental imagesAnxietyBody symptoms |
| spellingShingle | Christoph Benke Laura-Marie Wallenfels Gaby M. Bleichhardt Christiane A. Melzig Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery Scientific Reports Illness anxiety Mental images Anxiety Body symptoms |
| title | Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery |
| title_full | Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery |
| title_fullStr | Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery |
| title_short | Health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness-related imagery |
| title_sort | health anxiety amplifies fearful responses to illness related imagery |
| topic | Illness anxiety Mental images Anxiety Body symptoms |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54985-y |
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