The prospective influence of COVID-19 affective risk assessments and intolerance of uncertainty on later dimensions of health anxiety

Abstract

Highlights Examined risk factors for later health anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 affective risk associated with multiple health anxiety dimensions. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) associated with all health anxiety dimensions. Affective risk positively associated with health anxiety at mean and low IU levels. Results highlight risk factors for and targets for preventing severe health anxiety.

Pregnant women’s knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived controllability of the COVID-19 and their associations with emotional and behavioral reactions: A cross-sectional study

“…The nal nding was the positive and signi cant correlation between the perceived severity of the disease and health anxiety; however, this relationship was weak. Along the same lines, in their study, Tull et al (2020) pointed out that health anxiety increases over time among people with a higher perception of disease severity [43]. These results support the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic will increase health anxiety among people [44].…”

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on specific symptom dimensions and severity in OCD: A comparison before and during COVID-19 in the context of stress responses

“…COVID-19 poses significant challenges for many that would be expected to result in an increase in OC symptoms across different dimensions. COVID-19 has been previously been noted to have negative effects on mental health due to increased levels of uncertainty and unpredictability ( Tull et al, 2020 ; Wheaton et al, 2021 ; Zandifar & Badrfam, 2020 ), distress, fear, anxiety ( Elhai, Yang, McKay, & Asmundson, 2020 ; Mertens, Gerritsen, Duijndam, Salemink, & Engelhard, 2020 ), and health-related worries and concerns ( Jungmann & Witthöft, 2020 ; Taylor et al, 2020b ). Indeed, when OC symptoms emerge in community individuals due to the COVID-19 ( Zheng, Xiao, Xie, Wang, & Wang, 2020 ), it is not surprising to find an increase in symptoms across multiple dimensions in patients with OCD, especially in those with pre-existing OCD than those recently diagnosed with OCD ( Nissen et al, 2020 ).…”

Living in Uncertain Times: Pre-Pandemic Vulnerabilities as Predictors of Longitudinal Changes in Psychological Distress Across the First Two Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Only one known study has looked prospectively at the association between IU and psychological distress, specifically health-related anxiety, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study findings indicated that IU experienced early in the first pandemic wave was associated with health anxiety during a later time point within this same wave (Tull et al, 2020).…”

“…Identification of additional psychological vulnerabilities, beyond heightened prepandemic psychological distress, would also be helpful in tailoring interventions. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and perceived threat are two such vulnerabilities that might predict mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic Daly & Robinson, 2021;Fang et al, 2020;Glowacz & Schmits, 2020;Paluszek et al, 2020;Rettie & Daniels, 2020;Satici et al, 2020;Tull et al, 2020;Wheaton et al, 2021).…”

“…Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, elevations in perceived COVID-19 threat have been found to be related to worsening anxiety, worry, depressive, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (Boyraz et al, 2020;Fitzpatrick et al, 2020;Freeston et al, 2020;Taylor, Landry, Paluszek, Rachor et al, 2020;Taylor et al, 2020b;Tull et al, 2020;Zhou et al, 2020). Indeed, a recent study by Mertens and colleagues (2020) found that perceived threat of COVID-19 infection for loved ones was the strongest predictor of COVID-19 fears.…”