Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress

Background: Health anxiety is a psychological problem the behavioral consequences of which can lead to increased referrals to the health care system. This problem can be even more important during the coronavirus pandemic. This study was conducted with the aim to investigate the moderating role of c...

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Main Authors: Amin Sohrabzadeh-Fard, Younes Parvaz, Maryam Bakhtyari, Imaneh Abasi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vesnu Publications 2021-12-01
Series:International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
Online Access:https://ijbmc.org/index.php/ijbmc/article/view/308
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author Amin Sohrabzadeh-Fard
Younes Parvaz
Maryam Bakhtyari
Imaneh Abasi
author_facet Amin Sohrabzadeh-Fard
Younes Parvaz
Maryam Bakhtyari
Imaneh Abasi
author_sort Amin Sohrabzadeh-Fard
collection DOAJ
description Background: Health anxiety is a psychological problem the behavioral consequences of which can lead to increased referrals to the health care system. This problem can be even more important during the coronavirus pandemic. This study was conducted with the aim to investigate the moderating role of coronavirus-related stress in the relationship of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and emotional dysregulation (ED) with health anxiety. Methods: This web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on 403 individuals (54.8% women) with a mean age of 36.3 years. The data collection tools included the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale ‎(DERS), COVID Stress Scale (CSS), and Whitley Index (WI). Hierarchical regression and the Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings revealed that IU and ED explained 32% of the variance in health anxiety. The moderating role of coronavirus-related stress in the relationship of IU and ED with health anxiety was 12% (p < 0.01). In total, the research variables predicted large proportions of variance (R2 ≥ 0.45) in health anxiety. Conclusion: Regarding the specific complicated characteristics of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting injuries, coronavirus-related stress (especially its 3 dimensions of danger and contamination fears, traumatic stress symptoms, and compulsive checking) appear to play an important role in health anxiety. In addition, the interaction of coronavirus-related stress with IU and ED significantly predicts an increase in health anxiety. Therefore, to reduce the burden of health anxiety, coronavirus-related stress interventions are required.
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spelling doaj.art-f0c16bd6371f49b1a31051cf7dcf4f382022-12-22T04:32:32ZengVesnu PublicationsInternational Journal of Body, Mind and Culture2345-58022021-12-01263271309Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related StressAmin Sohrabzadeh-Fard0Younes Parvaz1Maryam Bakhtyari2Imaneh Abasi3Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, KhorramAbad, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranAssistant Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranBackground: Health anxiety is a psychological problem the behavioral consequences of which can lead to increased referrals to the health care system. This problem can be even more important during the coronavirus pandemic. This study was conducted with the aim to investigate the moderating role of coronavirus-related stress in the relationship of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and emotional dysregulation (ED) with health anxiety. Methods: This web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on 403 individuals (54.8% women) with a mean age of 36.3 years. The data collection tools included the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale ‎(DERS), COVID Stress Scale (CSS), and Whitley Index (WI). Hierarchical regression and the Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings revealed that IU and ED explained 32% of the variance in health anxiety. The moderating role of coronavirus-related stress in the relationship of IU and ED with health anxiety was 12% (p < 0.01). In total, the research variables predicted large proportions of variance (R2 ≥ 0.45) in health anxiety. Conclusion: Regarding the specific complicated characteristics of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting injuries, coronavirus-related stress (especially its 3 dimensions of danger and contamination fears, traumatic stress symptoms, and compulsive checking) appear to play an important role in health anxiety. In addition, the interaction of coronavirus-related stress with IU and ED significantly predicts an increase in health anxiety. Therefore, to reduce the burden of health anxiety, coronavirus-related stress interventions are required.https://ijbmc.org/index.php/ijbmc/article/view/308
spellingShingle Amin Sohrabzadeh-Fard
Younes Parvaz
Maryam Bakhtyari
Imaneh Abasi
Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress
International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
title Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress
title_full Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress
title_fullStr Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress
title_full_unstemmed Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress
title_short Intolerance of Uncertainty, Emotional Dysregulation, and Health Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Coronavirus-Related Stress
title_sort intolerance of uncertainty emotional dysregulation and health anxiety the moderating role of coronavirus related stress
url https://ijbmc.org/index.php/ijbmc/article/view/308
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