Publications by authors named "Emily R Doherty-Torstrick"
Unlabelled: The DSM-5 diagnosis of illness anxiety disorder adds avoidance as a component of a behavioral response to illness fears - one that was not present in prior DSM criteria of hypochondriasis. However, maladaptive avoidance as a necessary or useful criterion has yet to be empirically supported.
Methods: 195 individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for hypochondriasis based on structured interview completed a variety of self-report and clinician-administered assessments.
Background: Individuals with questions about their health often turn to the Internet for information about their symptoms, but the degree to which health anxiety is related to online checking, and clinical variables, remains unclear. The clinical profiles of highly anxious Internet checkers, and the relationship to checking behavior itself, have not previously been reported.
Objective: In this article, we test the hypothesis, derived from cognitive-behavioral models, that individuals with higher levels of illness anxiety would recall having experienced worsening anxiety after reassurance-seeking on the Internet.