How neuroticism and disgust influence health anxiety through anxiety sensitivity: a conditional process model
Author
Faculty Advisor
Date
2024
Keywords
health anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, disgust sensitivity, neuroticism
Abstract (summary)
Health anxiety (HA) is the persistent worry about one’s health or persistent concerns that one might become seriously ill. Previously, HA has been associated with neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity, and disgust. The present study sought to examine if disgust moderates the relationships between neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity, and HA. An undergraduate sample (N = 552) completed online self-report questionnaires of neuroticism and HA. Participants also completed measures of disgust, which contained propensity and sensitivity subscales, as well as anxiety sensitivity, which contained physical, cognitive, and social subscales. Hayes’ (2023) PROCESS macro was used to conduct a conditional process analysis. We found that neuroticism had an indirect effect on HA through both anxiety sensitivity physical and anxiety sensitivity cognitive. Further, for participants with greater disgust sensitivity, there was a larger indirect effect of neuroticism on HA through anxiety sensitivity physical. Overall, these findings support that neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity, and disgust sensitivity are significant factors that contribute to HA. The findings also suggest that therapeutic techniques like interoceptive exposure to internal sensations may be effective strategies to treat HA, as they would be able to target the anxiety and disgust sensitives that underlie HA.
Publication Information
DOI
Notes
Presented on June 22, 2024 at the 85th Annual Conference of the Canadian Psychological Association held in Ottawa, Ontario.
Item Type
Student Presentation
Language
Rights
All Rights Reserved