Illuminating the Association Between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Health Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Worry

Abstract

Background: Cognitive theories of health anxiety emphasize the critical importance of general Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU-general) in the development and maintenance of health anxiety. There is, however, a dearth of research on the mechanisms through which IU-general leads to health anxiety. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that intolerance of uncertainty specific to health (IU-health) and worry may sequentially mediate the association between IU-general and health anxiety. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-eight students completed a battery of questionnaire including measures of health anxiety, IU-general, IU-health, and worry. Results: Consistent with predictions generated by the hypothesis under test, a serial mediation model confirmed that the association between IU-general and health anxiety was mediated by IU-health (first mediator) and worry (second mediator). Conclusions: The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions were offered concerning how future research could serve to discriminate alternative causal accounts of the presently observed associations. Limitations: Due to the cross-sectional design of the study, causal inferences cannot be made. Additionally, as the sample was non-clinical, the generalizability of the results to clinical populations may be limited.