Health anxiety and associated constructs in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

dc.contributor.authorShivak, Shelby
dc.date.accessioned2018-06-20T17:27:20Z
dc.date.available2018-06-20T17:27:20Z
dc.date.issued2018-04
dc.descriptionA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 62 p.en_US
dc.description.abstractHealth anxiety refers to the concern about one’s health, often based on the worry that harmful bodily sensations may be indicative of a serious illness. It was originally thought that health anxiety emerged in adulthood, however a burgeoning body literature suggests that the origin is likely much earlier (i.e., childhood). However, little research exists on the etiology or the experiences of health anxiety in specialized child medical populations (i.e., cystic fibrosis [CF]). CF is the most common inherited, life-limiting chronic disease amongst Caucasian individuals which causes multi-organ dysfunction and requires time-consuming therapies. Recent research has demonstrated that children and adults with CF are at an increased risk for psychopathology (i.e., depression and anxiety). The purpose of this study was to extend the current literature by examining the relationship between health anxiety and associated constructs (i.e., anxiety symptoms, intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity) in children/adolescents with CF. Ten children/adolescents with CF, ages 8 to 21 years (mean age = 10.89, SD = 4.61) completed a battery of measures designed to assess child health anxiety and associated constructs. A significant, positive association (r = .93) was observed between child health anxiety (i.e., CIAS total scores) and the construct of anxiety sensitivity (i.e., CASI total scores). Results demonstrated a statistically significant difference between children/adolescents with CF and normative samples across an aspect of child health anxiety (i.e., CIAS treatment experiences subscale). This is the first study of its kind to examine child health anxiety and associated constructs within a CF population. The knowledge obtained from this study can facilitate an increase in our understanding of the psychological needs of children/adolescents with CF and may aid the development of innovative, tailored interventions aimed at improving overall mental health functioning and quality of life for this population.en_US
dc.description.authorstatusStudenten_US
dc.description.peerreviewnoen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10294/8360
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherFaculty of Arts, University of Regina
dc.subjectChildrenen_US
dc.subjectTeenagersen_US
dc.subjectAdolescentsen_US
dc.subjectHealth anxietyen_US
dc.subjectCystic fibrosisen_US
dc.subjectChild psychopathologyen_US
dc.titleHealth anxiety and associated constructs in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosisen_US
dc.title.alternativeHealth anxiety in children with cystic fibrosisen_US
dc.typeUndergraduate Honours Thesisen_US

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