Hypochondriacsʹ estimation of negative outcomes: domain-specificity and responsiveness to reassuring and alarming information

Based on hypochondriacal patientsʹ tendency to overestimate the seriousness of bodily sensations and health risks [Barsky, A. J., Wyshak, G. & Klerman, G. L. (1990). The Somatosensory Amplification Scale and its relationship to hypochondriasis. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 24, 323–334; Warwick, H. M. C., & Salkovskis, P. M. (1990). Hypochondriasis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 105–117], we investigated whether hypochondriacal individuals (n=20) are inclined to report higher estimates of negative outcomes than healthy controls (n=20) when interpreting ambiguous health-related and nonhealth-related events. In addition, we explored the influence of additional reassuring and alarming information on hypochondriacsʹ estimates of negative outcomes. Following the cognitive-behavioural model of hypochondriasis [Warwick, H. M. C. & Salkovskis, P. M. (1989). Hypochondriasis. In J. Scott, J. M. G. Williams & A. T. Beck (Eds.), Cognitive therapy in clinical practice: an illustrative casebook. (pp. 78–102). London: Routledge] we hypothesized that hypochondriacal individuals would be more responsive to alarming information and less responsive to reassuring information than healthy controls. Yet, hypochondriacs were neither found to be immune for reassuring information, nor to be hypersensitive to alarming information. Meanwhile, irrespective of the additional alarming or reassuring information, hypochondriacs clearly showed a domain-specific bias towards higher estimates of negative outcomes in ambiguous health-related situations.