The effects of safety behaviors on the fear of contamination: An experimental investigation

Deacon, Brett J.; Maack, Danielle J.

doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.01.010

Cited by 158 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…These included taking measures such as washing hands for 15 s several times per day, avoiding shaking hands with others, wiping down surfaces such as computer keyboards, telephone receivers, and door knobs, and avoiding sneezing on your hands. Consistent with previous research (Deacon and Maack 2008), these strategies might have facilitated inflated beliefs about the probability and severity of contamination by the flu virus. The general propensity to experience disgust was also a significant predictor of swine flu-related anxiety.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Psychological Predictors of Anxiety in Response to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Pandemic

et al. 2011

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Pandemic illnesses, such as the H1N1 influenza (swine flu) are often highly publicized in the mass media and can be associated with high levels of anxiety and compensatory behavior (e.g., using hand sanitizers). The present research sought to investigate the psychological processes associated with swine-flu related anxiety during the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009-2010. Participants were 315 college students who completed survey measures between September 25th 2009 and February 16th 2010, which encompassed the peak of flu season and a time of intense media attention to this particular outbreak. Data revealed that anxiety in response to the swine flu was common in the sample. Regression analysis indicated that health anxiety, contamination fears and disgust sensitivity were significant predictors of swine flu-related anxiety. Implications for how concerns over pandemic illnesses such as the swine flu can be conceptualized and clinically managed are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Psychological Predictors of Anxiety in Response to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Pandemic

et al. 2011

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“…Future longitudinal studies are necessary to determine which constructs prospectively predict the onset of health anxiety in response to the threat of a serious disease. Similarly, the possibility that safety behaviors generate or exacerbate Ebola concerns is especially worthy of consideration in light of research showing that deliberately engaging in health-related safety behaviors (e.g., avoiding public contaminants) causes individuals to become more concerned with the risks of contamination (Deacon and Maack 2008;Olatunji et al 2011). Although these limitations somewhat qualify the generalizability of our findings, the present study offers data relevant to understanding the psychological predictors of anxious responding to publicized epidemics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Tracing “Fearbola”: Psychological Predictors of Anxious Responding to the Threat of Ebola

et al. 2015

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Serious illnesses such as Ebola are often highly publicized in the mass media and can be associated with varying levels of anxiety and compensatory safety behavior (e.g., avoidance of air travel). The present study investigated psychological processes associated with Ebola-related anxiety and safety behaviors during the outbreak in late 2014. Between October 30 and December 3, 2014, which encompassed the peak of concerns and of the media's attention to this particular outbreak, 107 university students completed a battery of measures assessing fear of Ebola, performance of safety behaviors, factual knowledge of the virus, and psychological variables hypothesized to predict Ebola-related fear. We found that while our sample was generally not very fearful of contracting Ebola, the fear of this disease was correlated with general distress, contamination cognitions, disgust sensitivity, body vigilance, and anxiety sensitivity-related physical concerns. Regression analyses further indicated that anxiety sensitivity related to physical concerns and the tendency to overestimate the severity of contamination were unique predictors of both Ebola fear and associated safety behaviors. Implications for how concerns over serious illness outbreaks can be conceptualized and clinically managed are discussed.

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“…First, we included a heterogeneous OCD sample, instead of only OC checkers. However, the paradoxical perseveration phenomenon appears to be a general phenomenon, because perseveration studies in other cognitive domains demonstrate the same counterproductive effects as repeated checking: perseverative washing leads to uncertainty about contamination (Deacon & Maack, 2008), staring at an object induces uncertainty about perception (van den Hout, Engelhard, de Boer, du Bois, & Dek, 2008;van den Hout et al, 2009), and sentence repetition induces uncertainty about the meaning of the sentence . Therefore, we specifically aimed at investigating the perseverative checking phenomenon in a heterogeneous OCD sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Perseveration causes automatization of checking behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Dek

Hout

Engelhard

et al. 2015

Behaviour Research and Therapy

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The effects of safety behaviors on the fear of contamination: An experimental investigation

Cited by 158 publications

References 26 publications

Psychological Predictors of Anxiety in Response to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Pandemic

Psychological Predictors of Anxiety in Response to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Pandemic

Tracing “Fearbola”: Psychological Predictors of Anxious Responding to the Threat of Ebola

Perseveration causes automatization of checking behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder

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