Assessing the contributions of cognitive-behavioral and ACT constructs in the prediction of health anxiety

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  • June 17, 2020
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  • Overbey, Tate
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Abstract
  • Cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety (HA), although widely-accepted, do not entirely explain the variability in HA symptoms. Constructs derived from Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may improve our understanding of HA above and beyond cognitive-behavioral constructs. The current study investigates the degree to which RFT constructs e.g., cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance (EA) predict HA and whether or not they explain unique variability in HA symptoms above and beyond cognitive-behavioral constructs. Participants (N=265) completed online self-report measures of HA, dysfunctional health-related cognitions, EA, cognitive fusion, and general distress. To examine the extent to which RFT constructs predicted HA symptoms after controlling for general distress and health-related cognitions, a hierarchical regression analysis that included general distress in step 1, health-related cognitions in step 2, and RFT constructs in step 3 was conducted. Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that all cognitive-behavioral and RFT constructs were associated with HA symptoms (rs ranging from 0.17 to 0.49, ps < .01). Analyses revealed that a) the overall regression model accounted for 41.9% of the variance in HA symptoms F(9,264) = 22.18, p < .001, and b) RFT constructs, taken together explained unique variance above and beyond cognitive behavioral constructs in the prediction of HA symptoms (ΔR2 = .02, F (2,255) = 4.27, p = .02). Results support the notion that RFT offers explanatory power in understanding HA symptoms. Findings have implications for including acceptance-based strategies in the treatment of HA. Study limitations and future directions will be discussed.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Funding: Lindquist Undergraduate Research Fund
Advisor
  • Abramowitz, Jonathan
Degree
  • Bachelor of Science
Academic concentration
  • Psychology
Honors level
  • Honors
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2018
Language
  • English

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