Venn diagram indicating overlaps between health anxiety and other psychopathological domains [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Venn diagram indicating overlaps between health anxiety and other psychopathological domains [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

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Health anxiety involves excessive worries about one's health along with beliefs one has an illness or may contract a serious disease. Concerning evidence suggests that health anxiety is on the rise in society, possibly further fueled by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Recent classification systems acknowledge that impairing health‐related worries and belief...

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... Society is worried about health more. (Rask et al., 2024). Health anxiety entails excessive health concerns and the assumption that one has or may acquire a serious ailment. ...
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Background Superstitions affect people's health, luck, and daily decisions. Due to cultural and psychological factors, these beliefs affect people differently based on their experiences and societal norms. Methods: This quantitative study used the correlational method on 312 respondents of both genders. The study used the Superstitious Beliefs Scale, Health Anxiety Scale, and demographic variables. Results: The study findings showed a rather high level (44.51) with a mean score of superstitious beliefs of 1.91 (±0.814). Though popular beliefs had the lowest mean (1.56 ± 0.791), personal superstitious beliefs had the highest mean (2.29 ± 1.109). Belief in good fortune ran from 1.52 to 2.38; "I seek good luck" scored highest (2.38). Belief in bad luck ranged from 1.73–1.93; belief in changing luck ranged from 1.94–2.46; with "I can change events through different actions," scoring the highest (2.37). For health anxiety, the mean was 2.09, with major correlations between superstitious beliefs and health anxiety across all dimensions (0.272–0.401, p < 0.001). Sociocultural superstitious behaviors peaked at (1.80). This implies that levels of anxiety in society are much influenced by superstitious ideas. In essence, superstitious beliefs shape attitudes and actions; they also frequently influence emotional well-being and decision-making. Encouragement of critical thinking and awareness-raising will enable people to make more logical decisions and lower unwarranted fear.
... It is not uncommon to find a parent and child reporting similar pains or somatic complaints, prompting questions regarding genetic, environmental, and sociocultural contributors to pediatric FSSs (France et al., 2023). Indeed, parental experiences of chronic pain, persistent fatigue, or anxiety about health can influence how children learn to interpret and cope with their own bodily sensations (Corey et al., 2021;Rask et al., 2024). Children typically observe and internalize parents' reactions to pain or discomfort-especially if the parents themselves have longstanding somatic complaints. ...
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Functional somatic symptoms (FSSs) in children—such as headaches, stomachaches, and muscle pain without clear medical explanations—pose a significant clinical challenge, often leading to repeated healthcare visits and impairments in daily functioning. While the role of parental psychological factors in shaping children’s FSSs has been suggested, empirical evidence remains limited and fragmented. This study addresses this gap by systematically examining the associations between parents’ reflective functioning, emotion regulation, alexithymia, and physical and mental health, and the frequency and severity of children’s FSSs. A total of 339 parents of children aged 6–12 completed surveys assessing their capacity to understand mental states, regulate emotions, and identify or describe feelings, as well as their self-reported physical and mental health. They also indicated whether their child experienced FSSs (e.g., headaches, stomachaches) more than once per week. Results revealed that parents of children with FSSs reported significantly lower levels of reflective functioning (lower certainty, higher uncertainty), higher alexithymic traits, and greater emotion regulation difficulties, alongside poorer physical and mental health indices. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that emotion regulation difficulties and poorer mental health significantly increased the likelihood of a child exhibiting FSSs, while lower reflective functioning also emerged as a significant predictor. Furthermore, multiple linear regression indicated that emotion regulation challenges and poor mental health predicted greater severity of FSSs. These findings offer novel insights into how parents’ psychological and health characteristics can shape children’s somatic symptom expression, highlighting the need for family-focused interventions. By identifying and addressing parental emotional and cognitive difficulties, clinicians may be able to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of maladaptive stress responses, ultimately reducing the burden of FSSs in children.
... Individuals often elaborate complex avoidance behaviors, and social, occupational, and academic impairment can be considerable. This condition typically has its onset during childhood or early adolescence, a period when key developmental processes might be impacted, leading to entrenched patterns of social isolation that continue into adulthood [7,8]. Recent advances in neuroimaging and psychophysiological research have started to shed light on the neural substrates of misophonia, indicating alterations in sound processing and emotional regulation networks. ...
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Misophonia, characterized by intense emotional and physiological responses to specific sounds, represents a complex neurophysiological and behavioral syndrome first identified in 1997. This review synthesizes current understanding of its epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, and clinical implications. Population studies indicate prevalence rates of 15-20% in the general population, with 2-3% reporting severe cases, and higher rates among university students (20-25%) and clinical populations (up to 60%). The condition shows female predominance (3:2 ratio) with typical onset between ages 8-12. Neuroimaging studies reveal altered activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insular cortex, and superior temporal cortex, suggesting disrupted sensory-emotional integration. Multiple factors contribute to its etiology, including neurobiological, genetic, developmental, environmental, and psychological mechanisms. Common triggers include eating sounds, breathing, and repetitive movements, leading to intense autonomic arousal, anxiety, and aggressive impulses. The condition frequently co-occurs with obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety disorders. While standardized diagnostic criteria are lacking, several assessment tools exist, including the Misophonia Assessment Questionnaire and Amsterdam Misophonia Scale. Treatment approaches encompass both non-pharmacological interventions (music therapy, sound management) and pharmacological options (MDMA, ?-blockers). The condition significantly impacts daily functioning, often leading to social isolation, academic difficulties, and reduced quality of life. Future research priorities include establishing standardized diagnostic criteria, developing validated treatment protocols, understanding neurobiological mechanisms, and conducting long-term outcome studies.
... According to research, healthcare-induced anxiety in children may lead to serious mental health problems later in life [17]. Meanwhile, hospital staff have considerable influence yet sometimes overlook patients' points of view. ...
Article
Purpose: Parental satisfaction is essential for evaluating pediatric care quality and influences healthcare practices and performance. Pediatric patients frequently experience anxiety, affecting their and their parents' satisfaction. Nurses play a key role in reducing anxiety and improving care interactions. Meeting parents' expectations shapes long-term outcomes and impacts the hospital's reputation. While instruments such as the Child ZAP (Zufriedenheit in der Arztpraxis) provide comprehensive measures of satisfaction, their use in Indonesia has not been explored. This study aimed to validate the Child ZAP and offer insights to improve pediatric care quality in Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 139 mothers whose children were older than 5 years and received treatment at private hospitals. Structured questionnaires were analyzed using partial least squared-structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4, and a disjoint two-stage method was used to test dimensionality. Results: All hypotheses were significant (p<.05), demonstrating strong support. All Child ZAP dimensions, treated as lower-order constructs, effectively measured parents' satisfaction as a higher-order construct. Overall parental satisfaction significantly influenced behavioral intention and mediated its relationship with Child ZAP. The mother's and the child's age served as moderating factors. The research model exhibited strong predictive power, underscoring pediatric nurses' pivotal role in improving communication among parents, physicians, and children to ensure quality care. Conclusion: The Child ZAP instrument effectively evaluates parental satisfaction by examining how children interact and communicate with medical staff. It assesses doctors' engagement with children and their communication skills, highlighting nurses' essential role in providing family-centered pediatric care.
... Further associated repercussions of health anxiety includes psychological distress, functional damage and overuse of medical sources as well (Lee et al., 2015). Symptoms of health anxiety among youngsters are allied with distress, impairment, overutilization of health care, comorbidity with emotional problems (Rask et al., 2024). In post COVID-19 scenario, health anxiety emerged as a common problem anticipating threat to have a disease (Tyrer, 2020). ...
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The present study investigated health anxiety among patients of general outpatient departments of public and private sector hospitals in Faisalabad. In order to meet that research objective, Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ), developed by Lucock and Morely (1996), was translated in Urdu language in order to extend its application for the population whose first language is Urdu. Reliability and validity analysis determined the application of Urdu version of HAQ for examining health anxiety. In the second phase, prevalence and gender difference was determined on the sample of one hundred and seventy six (n =176) patients selected from general outpatient departments. Ages of them ranged from 21 to 60 with mean age (M = 44.93; SD = 8.44). Data were collected via demographic information sheet and Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ). Statistical analysis revealed majority of patients experiencing moderate level of health anxiety, while women reported more health anxiety pertaining to their current physical health status as compared to men in terms of health worry and preoccupation, fear of illness and death, reassurance seeking behavior and interference with life. Present findings imply the integration of psychological assessment and treatment procedures while dealing patients suffering from physical complaints.
... In fact, one could see the pandemic as a natural experimental test of the role societal influences play in mental health in general, and health anxiety in particular (Sonuga-Barke, 2021). In this way, the fantastic Annual Research Review of health anxiety research findings, as they relate especially to children and adolescents, by Rask, Duholm, Poulsen, Rimvall, and Wright (2024), could not have been more timely. For us, the key messages from the Rask review were that: ...
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Researchers continue to count the short‐ and longer‐term mental health costs for children and adolescents of the COVID‐19 pandemic and the associated exceptional restrictions imposed by governments on their lives in an attempt to control the pandemic and its impacts. Despite being at low risk of serious physical illness from COVID‐19 themselves, some studies have reported a decline in the mental health of many young people during the pandemic. Some have suggested that this could even create a risk for long‐term morbidity. In this commentary, we reflect on the excellent article by Rask and colleagues on paediatric health anxiety and consider key research gaps for the field in general and for the specific challenges and questions posed by the COVID‐19 pandemic and its legacy.
... US surgeon general etc. From 2012 to 2018 there was a 34.6% increase in the prevalence of mental illness, with rates continuing to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic (Rask et al., 2023;Tkacz & Brady, 2021). Despite these devastating increases, there is a disproportionate lack of attention and funding paid toward addressing child mental health, despite knowledge that childhood is a time of tremendous brain development and developmental plasticity, and that earlier intervention reduces the intensity and severity of psychopathology. ...
Article
From its inception, development and psychopathology theorists have sought to uncover the earliest forms of risk for mental health challenges in children, to prevent the development of more severe, intractable manifestations of psychopathology. Large familial risk registries have advanced our understanding of early, potentially modifiable factors that could prevent or mitigate the expression of challenging symptoms of neurodevelopmental conditions, and similar registries have been proposed to advance understanding of ADHD and related phenotypes. Data from single-site studies, largely focused on perinatal exposure to maternal mood disorders, reveal that a robust predictor of child psychopathology is parental psychopathology. However, early developmental trajectories of psychopathology risk may be better captured using transdiagnostic approaches in pregnancy, capturing the full range of mental health symptoms. We describe here the need for a parental mental health registry that begins prenatally that includes deep behavioral phenotyping across a range of transdiagnostic indicators of mental health risk to prevent psychopathology in children. This registry has the potential to uncover pathways to psychopathology risk in childhood and support the discovery of novel mechanisms to be targeted for prevention and intervention.