Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract After the COVID-19 worldwide spread, evidence suggested a vast diffusion of negative consequences on people's mental health. Together with depression and sleep difficulties, anxiety symptoms seem to be the most diffused clinical outcome. The current contribution aimed to examine attent...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73599-8 |
| _version_ | 1828975110561726464 |
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| author | Loreta Cannito Adolfo Di Crosta Rocco Palumbo Irene Ceccato Stefano Anzani Pasquale La Malva Riccardo Palumbo Alberto Di Domenico |
| author_facet | Loreta Cannito Adolfo Di Crosta Rocco Palumbo Irene Ceccato Stefano Anzani Pasquale La Malva Riccardo Palumbo Alberto Di Domenico |
| author_sort | Loreta Cannito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract After the COVID-19 worldwide spread, evidence suggested a vast diffusion of negative consequences on people's mental health. Together with depression and sleep difficulties, anxiety symptoms seem to be the most diffused clinical outcome. The current contribution aimed to examine attentional bias for virus-related stimuli in people varying in their degree of health anxiety (HA). Consistent with previous literature, it was hypothesized that higher HA would predict attentional bias, tested using a visual dot-probe task, to virus-related stimuli. Participants were 132 Italian individuals that participated in the study during the lockdown phase in Italy. Results indicated that the HA level predicts attentional bias toward virus-related objects. This relationship is double mediated by the belief of contagion and by the consequences of contagion as assessed through a recent questionnaire developed to measure the fear for COVID-19. These findings are discussed in the context of cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of anxiety suggesting a risk for a loop effect. Future research directions are outlined. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T14:14:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1908a464a694cea934d0bde141cbf35 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T14:14:05Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1908a464a694cea934d0bde141cbf352022-12-21T22:58:14ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222020-10-011011810.1038/s41598-020-73599-8Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemicLoreta Cannito0Adolfo Di Crosta1Rocco Palumbo2Irene Ceccato3Stefano Anzani4Pasquale La Malva5Riccardo Palumbo6Alberto Di Domenico7Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Health and Territory, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Health and Territory, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Health and Territory, University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti-PescaraAbstract After the COVID-19 worldwide spread, evidence suggested a vast diffusion of negative consequences on people's mental health. Together with depression and sleep difficulties, anxiety symptoms seem to be the most diffused clinical outcome. The current contribution aimed to examine attentional bias for virus-related stimuli in people varying in their degree of health anxiety (HA). Consistent with previous literature, it was hypothesized that higher HA would predict attentional bias, tested using a visual dot-probe task, to virus-related stimuli. Participants were 132 Italian individuals that participated in the study during the lockdown phase in Italy. Results indicated that the HA level predicts attentional bias toward virus-related objects. This relationship is double mediated by the belief of contagion and by the consequences of contagion as assessed through a recent questionnaire developed to measure the fear for COVID-19. These findings are discussed in the context of cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of anxiety suggesting a risk for a loop effect. Future research directions are outlined.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73599-8 |
| spellingShingle | Loreta Cannito Adolfo Di Crosta Rocco Palumbo Irene Ceccato Stefano Anzani Pasquale La Malva Riccardo Palumbo Alberto Di Domenico Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic Scientific Reports |
| title | Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus related stimuli during the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73599-8 |
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