title: Adolescents' hypochondriacal fears and beliefs: Relationship with demographic features, psychological distress, well-being and health-related behaviors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is little previous literature on hypochondriacal attitudes in teens. We examined the relationship between adolescents' hypochondriacal fears and beliefs, demographic features, psychological distress and well-being, and health-related behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine hundred and forty-eight students (53.4% males), aged 14-19years (mean 15.8±1.3years), completed the Illness Attitude Scales, the Symptom Questionnaire, and the Psychological Well-Being scales. Demographic features and health-related behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, illicit substance use, and sedentary, eating and sleep habits) were also collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypochondriacal concerns were significantly higher among females and correlated with increased psychological distress and reduced well-being. One hundred and forty-nine participants (15.7% of the sample) reached the threshold of the "hypochondriacal responses", identified by Kellner as a screening method for clinically significant hypochondriacal symptoms. The "hypochondriacal responses" were significantly associated with higher levels of psychological distress, decreased well-being, and some unhealthy behaviors: smoking, use of illicit substances, physical inactivity, and short sleep. Female gender, physical inactivity, and higher levels of hostility independently predicted the "hypochondriacal responses" pattern.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial percentage of adolescents experience significant concerns about health. Excessive illness fears are associated with less healthy behaviors. A thorough assessment of illness-related concerns may be crucial for the prevention of both the development of more structured forms of abnormal illness behavior (e.g., severe health anxiety) and the engagement in some unhealthy lifestyles in adolescents. However, it may also be that unhealthy behaviors lead to increased preoccupation with one's own health through adolescents' implicit knowledge about possible consequences of such behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Psychosomatics and Clinimetrics, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: laurasirri@libero.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sirri
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Psychosomatics and Clinimetrics, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ricci Garotti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Psychosomatics and Clinimetrics, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grandi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Psychosomatics and Clinimetrics, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tossani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D001290:Attitude; D003710:Demography; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000473:pathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Health anxiety; Health-related behaviors; Hypochondriasis; Illness Attitude Scales