The relationship between child and parent health anxiety and associated constructs in children and adolescents with congenital heart defects

Abstract

Health anxiety refers to worries about one’s health, often based on the worry that changes in bodily sensations are indicative of a serious illness. It was originally thought that health anxiety originated in adulthood, however a limited body of research has suggested the origin is likely much earlier. Little is known about the etiology or the experience of health anxiety in specialized child health populations. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between self-reported health anxiety and associated constructs (i.e., intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, DSM-IV anxiety disorder symptom categories) in children and adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHD) and that of one of their parents. We hypothesized that there would be a significant positive relationship between child health anxiety, parent health anxiety, and the associated constructs. Twenty-one children with CHD, ages 7 to 15 years (mean age = 11. 67, SD = 2.57) and 21 parents completed a battery of measures designed to assess health anxiety and associated constructs. Results demonstrated a trend toward a significant negative association between parent health anxiety and child health anxiety. A significant negative association was observed between an aspect of child health anxiety (i.e., CIAS treatment experiences subscale) and parent health anxiety. Significant positive associations were observed between child health anxiety and associated constructs and a similar pattern was observed within parent measures. This is the first study of its kind to examine the parental transmission of health anxiety within a medical population. The knowledge obtained from this study can facilitate an increase in our understanding of the psychological needs and possibly shed some light on the etiology of health anxiety within children with CHD.