Attentional correlates of illness anxiety in a non-clinical sample.
BACKGROUND
Attentional processes are assumed to play an important role in the maintenance of illness anxiety, although empirical support is relatively scarce.


METHODS
The present study explores the relationship between selective attention (i.e. private body consciousness and symptom reporting), intensive concentration (i.e. attentional control and sustained attention), and illness anxiety in 57 non-clinical subjects.


RESULTS
Zero-order and multiple correlations suggest that illness anxiety is significantly related to cognitive failures in everyday life and private body consciousness and to a lesser extent to symptom reporting.


CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that illness anxiety can be partly predicted from specific attentional variables. However, specific operationalizations of attentional parameters seems to determine the existence and magnitude of these relations.
Vervaeke
G A
GA
Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Bouman
T K
TK
Valmaggia
L R
LR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012650:Self Disclosure