Predictors and consequences of health anxiety symptoms: a novel twin modeling study

C López-Solà; M Bui; JL Hopper; LF Fontenelle; CG Davey; C Pantelis; P Alonso; OA van den Heuvel; BJ Harrison

Journal article

Predictors and consequences of health anxiety symptoms: a novel twin modeling study

C López-Solà, M Bui, JL Hopper, LF Fontenelle, CG Davey, C Pantelis, P Alonso, OA van den Heuvel, BJ Harrison

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | WILEY | Published : 2018

DOI: 10.1111/acps.12850

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Abstract

Objective: The question of how to best conceptualize health anxiety (HA) from a diagnostic and etiological perspective remains debated. The aim was to examine the relationship between HA and the symptoms of anxiety and obsessive–compulsive-related disorders in a normative twin population. Method: Four hundred and ninety-six monozygotic adult twin pairs from the Australian Twin Registry participated in the study (age, 34.4 ± 7.72 years; 59% females). Validated scales were used to assess each domain. We applied a twin regression methodology—ICE FALCON—to determine whether there was evidence consistent with ‘causal’ relationships between HA and other symptoms by fitting and comparing model esti..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Minh Bui Author

Chris Davey Author

Christos Pantelis Author

Ben Harrison Author

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Grants

Awarded by Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

Funding Acknowledgements

The study was funded by an Early Career Researcher Grant to BJH from The University of Melbourne and was partially presented at the ECNP Congress as a poster (51). BJH is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (1124472). CGD is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (ID: 1141738). JLH is supported by an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (ID: 1137349). CP is supported by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (IDs: 628386 & 1105825), and a Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Distinguished Investigator Award (ID: 18722). PA is supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (PI14/00413), FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)-a way to build Europe. This research was facilitated through access to the Australian Twin Registry, a national resource supported by an Enabling Grant from the NHMRC.