Relationship Between Values of the Health Care and Cognitive Beliefs About Body, Illness and Treatment: Is There “Hypochondriac Discourse” in the Society?

Abstract

Introduction

Social values of health and health care are considered as important factors of health behavior as well as sources of self-regulation in health and illness. However, emphasize on medicine, health and body that is widespread in mass media nowadays may increase hypochondriac-like beliefs and behavior as well as the risk for unexplained somatic symptoms in some individuals.

Objectives

Analysis of mass media revealed four models of health care value: health as a depletable resource requiring conservation, health as fragile value requiring protection and control, health as a necessary source of success and happiness, health as requiring periodic restoration by alternative medicine.

Aim was to investigate the relationship between these models and beliefs about body, illness and treatment.

Methods

One hundred and thirteen adults without history of mental or severe somatic illnesses filled checklist of values of health care, Cognitive Attitudes about Body And Health Scale (Rief et al., 1998), Compliance-related Self-Efficacy Scale (Tkhostov and Rasskazova, 2012).

Results

The models of health as a depletable resource and as fragile value are dominated in the sample. Agreement with these models of health care is, on the one hand, related to willingness to seek medical help and follow treatment, but, on the other hand, to an excessive attention to bodily sensations, somatosensory amplification, monitoring and catastrophization about bodily sensations.

Conclusions

Possible pathways linking “hypochondriac discourse” in the society in its various forms and cognitive beliefs typical for hypochondria and somatoform disorders will be discussed. Research supported by Russian Foundation for fundamental research, project 17-06-00849.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.