title: A Preliminary Investigation into Worry about Mental Health: Development of the Mental Health Anxiety Inventory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Worry about physical health is broadly referred to as health anxiety and can range from mild concern to severe or persistent anxiety such as that found in DSM-IV hypochondriasis. While much is known about anxiety regarding physical health, little is known about anxiety regarding mental health. However, recent conceptualizations of health anxiety propose that individuals can experience severe and problematic worry about mental health in similar ways to how people experience extreme worry about physical health.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Given the paucity of research in this area, the aim of the current study was to explore anxiety regarding mental health through validation of the Mental Health Anxiety Inventory (MHAI), a modified version of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory.
  
  
  METHODS
  The MHAI, and measures of state anxiety (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21), trait worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), and health anxiety (Short Health Anxiety Inventory) were administered to 104 adult volunteers from the general community.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MHAI demonstrated high internal consistency, acceptable test-retest reliability, and good construct validity when correlated with other measures of anxiety. Results also indicated that participants worried about their mental health and physical health equally, and that almost 9% of participants reported levels of mental health anxiety that were potentially problematic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preliminary results suggest that a small proportion of adults in the community may experience high levels of mental health anxiety requiring treatment, and that the MHAI, if validated further, could be a useful tool for assessing this form of anxiety.
authors: Edith Cowan University,Perth,Australia.
authors: Della
authors: D
authors: Commons
authors: Edith Cowan University,Perth,AustraliaandCapital Medical University,Beijing,P.R. China.
authors: Kenneth Mark
authors: KM
authors: Greenwood
authors: Curtin University,Perth,Australia.
authors: Rebecca A
authors: RA
authors: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Mental Health Anxiety Inventory; hypochondriasis; illness anxiety; mental health anxiety