Cognitive therapy and exposure therapy for hypochondriasis (health anxiety): A 3-year naturalistic follow-up.

Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in treating hypochondriasis. However, there are doubts regarding the long-term effectiveness of CBT for hypochondriasis, in particular for follow-up periods longer than 1 year. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of cognitive therapy (CT) and exposure therapy (ET) for the treatment of hypochondriasis.

Personality Disorders in Hypochondriasis: A Comparison to Panic Disorder and Healthy Controls.

Previous studies found high prevalence rates of personality disorders (PDs) in patients with hypochondriasis; however, assessment was often based only on questionnaires. In the current study, a sample of 68 patients with hypochondriasis was compared to 31 patients with panic disorder and to 94 healthy controls. Participants were investigated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders questionnaire (SCID-II questionnaire) and the SCID-II interview.

Changes in Free Symptom Attributions in Hypochondriasis after Cognitive Therapy and Exposure Therapy.

Background: Cognitive-behavioural therapy can change dysfunctional symptom attributions in patients with hypochondriasis. Past research has used forced-choice answer formats, such as questionnaires, to assess these misattributions; however, with this approach, idiosyncratic attributions cannot be assessed. Free associations are an important complement to existing approaches that assess symptom attributions.

Response and Remission After Cognitive and Exposure Therapy for Hypochondriasis.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has demonstrated large effect sizes for the treatment of hypochondriasis. However, response and remission rates, which provide important additional information about clinically significant improvements, have seldom been reported. In the current study, rates of response and remission after cognitive therapy and exposure therapy were evaluated.

Changes in negative implicit evaluations in patients of hypochondriasis after treatment with cognitive therapy or exposure therapy.

Background And Objectives: Previous studies using modified versions of the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP; Payne, Cheng, Govorun, & Stewart, 2005) have revealed that there is an implicit negative evaluation bias of illness-related information in patients with hypochondriasis (HYP), which might be a maintaining feature of HYP. However, there is no evidence on whether this bias might be targeted successfully by effective treatments, such as exposure therapy (ET) or cognitive therapy (CT). This is the first study to examine the change in negative implicit evaluations in a randomized controlled trial, including individual CT and ET, compared to a wait-list control group for HYP.

The Effects of Bug-in-the-Eye Supervision on Therapeutic Alliance and Therapist Competence in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Unlabelled: Live supervision enables a supervisor to have direct insight into the psychotherapeutic process and allows him or her to provide immediate feedback to the trainee. Therefore, live supervision might be superior to traditional supervisory formats that only allow for the provision of delayed feedback. When considering the different live supervision formats, bug-in-the-eye (BITE) supervision is particularly promising because of its improved and less invasive procedure.

Exposure therapy changes dysfunctional evaluations of somatic symptoms in patients with hypochondriasis (health anxiety). A randomized controlled trial.

Dysfunctional evaluations of somatic symptoms are considered a central factor in maintaining hypochondriasis. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether exposure therapy (ET) without cognitive restructuring is sufficient to change dysfunctional evaluations of somatic symptoms. The current study was based on a randomized controlled trial and compared patients with hypochondriasis (N=73) receiving ET or cognitive therapy (CT) to a wait list (WL) control group.

Health Behavior in Hypochondriasis.

The relationship between health behavior and hypochondriasis has not yet been sufficiently examined, as previous studies investigated only individual dimensions of health behavior. In the present study, we extend current literature by examining multiple dimensions of health behavior. One hundred twenty-six participants, consisting of 40 participants with a primary diagnosis of hypochondriasis, 41 participants with a primary diagnosis of anxiety disorder, and 45 healthy controls, completed a multidimensional questionnaire for the assessment of health behavior and other measures for the evaluation of general psychopathology, illness anxiety, depression, and general anxiety.

Therapist competence and therapeutic alliance are important in the treatment of health anxiety (hypochondriasis).

The role of treatment delivery factors (i.e., therapist adherence, therapist competence, and therapeutic alliance) is rarely investigated in psychotherapeutic treatment for health anxiety.

Cognitive therapy versus exposure therapy for hypochondriasis (health anxiety): A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to be highly effective in the treatment of hypochondriasis and health anxiety. However, little is known about which therapeutic interventions are most promising. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of cognitive therapy (CT) with exposure therapy (ET).

Implicit affective evaluation bias in hypochondriasis: findings from the Affect Misattribution Procedure.

Cognitive theories of hypochondriasis (HYP) suggest that catastrophic misinterpretations of benign body sensations are a core feature for the maintenance of the disorder. There is tentative support from an analog sample that the interpretation of illness-related information also involves an implicit affective component. This is the first study to examine this negative affective evaluation bias implicitly in patients with HYP.

Previous experiences with illness and traumatic experiences: a specific risk factor for hypochondriasis?

Background: Previous experiences with illness and traumatic experiences are considered as important risk factors for the development of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. However, empirical research is insufficient and lacks adequate comparison groups.

Objective: Therefore, we sought to determine whether experiences with illness and traumatic experiences are really specific risk factors for hypochondriasis.

Attribution of somatic symptoms in hypochondriasis.

The misinterpretation of bodily symptoms as an indicator of a serious illness is a key feature of the criteria and the cognitive-behavioural models of hypochondriasis. Previous research suggests that individuals suffering from health anxiety endorse attributions of physical disease, whereas persons with elevated general anxiety have the tendency to attribute psychological causes to their symptoms. However, whether a somatic attribution style is specific to patients with hypochondriasis, as opposed to those with anxiety disorders, has not yet been investigated and is therefore part of the present study.

The German version of the H-YBOCS for the assessment of hypochondriacal cognitions and behaviors: development, reliability and validity.

Background: Clinician-administered interviews are essential for assessing the efficacy of treatment studies and constitute an important instrument for clinical practice. Recently, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was adapted for the dimensional assessment of hypochondriacal characteristics (H-YBOCS) and yielded promising results.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and validate a German version of the H-YBOCS.

The restrictive concept of good health in patients with hypochondriasis.

The restrictive concept of good health and the misinterpretation of bodily symptoms as a sign of illness are considered in the DSM and in well-established cognitive models as central characteristics of hypochondriasis. However, until now it has not been satisfactorily resolved whether this tendency is unique for hypochondriasis. In the current study a modified card sorting technique was used to investigate the extent to which bodily complaints were seen as compatible with a state of good health.

Dysfunctional beliefs about symptoms and illness in patients with hypochondriasis.

Background: The cognitive model and empirical research underline the importance of dysfunctional beliefs about bodily symptoms and illness in health anxiety and hypochondriasis. However, specificity of such beliefs has not yet been adequately demonstrated for patients with hypochondriasis.

Objective: This study examined whether dysfunctional beliefs about bodily symptoms and illness are elevated in comparison to patients with anxiety disorders and, therefore, specific for patients with hypochondriasis.