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An Examination of the Indirect Effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty on Health Anxiety Through Anxiety Sensitivity Physical Concerns

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Abstract

Although research indicates that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is associated with greater health anxiety, the mechanisms underlying this association have yet to be identified. One potential explanatory mechanism to examine in this regard may be the physical concerns domain of anxiety sensitivity (AS), which has well-documented associations with health anxiety. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine whether there was a specific indirect effect of IU on health anxiety through AS-Physical Concerns, relative to AS-Cognitive and AS-Social Concerns, in a sample of medically healthy undergraduate students (68% female, M age  = 19.16, SD = 1.84, Range = 18-38 years). Partially consistent with prediction, after accounting for the effects of gender and negative affect, significant indirect effects of IU on health anxiety through AS-Physical Concerns and AS-Cognitive Concerns were observed. These results suggest that AS is one mechanism through which IU impacts health anxiety, and it may be useful to employ interventions that target the physical and cognitive domains of AS in order to decrease health anxiety severity.

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Notes

  1. This pattern of results did not differ when examining separate models for Prospective and Inhibitory IU domains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210376, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0376, USA

    Emily M. O’Bryan

  2. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    Alison C. McLeish

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  1. Emily M. O’Bryan
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  2. Alison C. McLeish
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Correspondence to Alison C. McLeish.

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Access to REDCap for data collection was supported by a Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training Grant (UL-RR026314) awarded to the University of Cincinnati.

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Emily M. O’Bryan and Alison C. McLeish declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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O’Bryan, E.M., McLeish, A.C. An Examination of the Indirect Effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty on Health Anxiety Through Anxiety Sensitivity Physical Concerns. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 39, 715–722 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9613-y

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