Mediating Role of Pain Catastrophizing in the Relationship between harm Avoidance and Illness Anxiety Symptoms
Subject Areas : Psychology
mojgan parvane
1
,
said asadnia
2
*
1 - Master's student in Clinical Psychology, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran.
2 - PhD in Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran.
Keywords: Harm Avoidance, Illness Anxiety Disorder, Pain Catastrophizing, Students.,
Abstract :
Illness anxiety is a common, debilitating, and costly disorder. The aim of the present study was to examine the mediating role of pain catastrophizing in the relationship between harm avoidance and the symptoms of illness anxiety disorder among students. The research method was descriptive-correlational, and the statistical population included all students of the Islamic Azad University, Urmia Branch, during the second semester of the academic year 2023-2024. 240 students were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method and answered the standard questionnaires of pain catastrophizing (Sullivan et al., 1995), health anxiety (Salkovskis et al., 2002) and Temperament and Character (Kloninger, 1994). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling with SPSS version 26 and Amos version 24. The findings indicated that the direct effect of harm avoidance (p < 0.074, β = 0.128) on illness anxiety is not significant; however, the direct effect of harm avoidance (p < 0.001, β = 0.290) on pain catastrophizing and pain catastrophizing (p < 0.001, β = 0.296) on illness anxiety is significant. Additionally, the results showed that pain catastrophizing plays a mediating role in the relationship between harm avoidance and illness anxiety among students (p < 0.01, β = 0.014). The proposed model of the study had a better fit compared to alternative models, and these results can contribute to a better understanding of the factors influencing illness anxiety and the development of therapeutic strategies. The findings provide a suitable framework for the etiology of illness anxiety disorder and can be utilized in designing and implementing therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing harm avoidance and pain catastrophizing to improve the symptoms of this disorder.