Does Thinking about Personal Health Risk Increase Anxiety?

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect on anxiety about health of a self-referent health questionnaire, in which people were asked to respond to questions about personal risk factors. Participants were randomly allocated into one of two experimental conditions (completing a self-referential assessment of their current health, or personality), with dependent variables measured before and after the experimental manipulation. Dependent variables included general and disease-specific (CHD, Stroke and Diabetes) anxiety and need for reassurance. Analysis of covariance suggested that participants who completed the health-focused questionnaire significantly increased in their anxiety ratings about Heart Disease, Stroke and Diabetes relative to those who completed the personality-focused assessment. There was no effect on general anxiety ratings. The results have important implications for measurement procedures commonly employed in health psychology, as they suggest that asking participants to rate factors related to health risk may lead to other psychological changes. It is important that subsequent research identify the duration of such effects.

Completing a postal health questionnaire did not affect anxiety or related measures: randomized controlled trial

“…We believe there are three plausible explanations for the discrepancy between our results and those of previous laboratory-based research [5,6]. First, the designs differed.…”

“…Comparative risk perception: In line with many previous studies [16], perceived comparative risk of getting diabetes compared to others the participants' age was assessed by a single item, with the response options ''much lower'' (1), ''a little lower'' (2), ''about the same'' (3), ''a little higher'' (4), ''much higher'' (5).…”

“…Intentions to alter lifestyle: Three items assessed intentions to (a) be more physically active, (b) eat a lower fat diet, and (c) reduce the amount of sugar in my diet, in the next 12 months, with the response options ''strongly disagree'' (1), ''disagree'' (2), neither agree nor disagree'' (3), ''agree'' (4), ''strongly agree'' (5).…”

“…Self-rated health: In line with many previous studies [12], self-rated health was assessed by a single item asking about the participant's health in general, with the response options ''excellent'' (5)…”

In a randomized trial, outcomes were not affected by intensive follow-up over 1 year

“…The outcome measure of response at 1 year is important for the conduct of follow-up studies and is easy to measure. We ensured that baseline questionnaires were completed before randomization and that the final follow-up questionnaire to both allocated groups was identical, to avoid potential framing biases with the mood measures [1,17].…”