Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, National Intelligent Society Governance Experiment Base (Education), School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Experimental Psychopathology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Psychol Med. 2023 Jan;53(1):34-45. doi: 10.1017/S0033291722003427. Epub 2022 Nov 9.
Interpretation bias (i.e. the selective negative interpretation of ambiguous stimuli) may contribute to the development and maintenance of health anxiety. However, the strength of the empirical evidence for this association remains a topic of debate. This study aimed to estimate the association between health anxiety and interpretation bias and to identify potential moderators of this association. Chinese-language databases (CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang), English-language databases (Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus), and German-language databases (Psyndex and PubPsych) were searched for relevant studies. There were 36 articles (39 studies) identified by this search ( = 8984), of which 32 articles (34 studies) were included in the meta-analysis ( = 8602). Results revealed a medium overall effect size ( = 0.67). Statistically equivalent effect sizes were observed for patients diagnosed with clinical health anxiety ( = 0.58) and subclinical health anxiety ( = 0.72). The effect sizes for threat stimuli that were health related ( = 0.68) and not health related ( = 0.63) did not differ significantly. The effect size for studies using an offline paradigm ( = 0.75) was significantly higher than that for studies using an online paradigm ( = 0.50). It is concluded that health anxiety is significantly and robustly associated with interpretation bias. These findings are of central importance for the advancement of models and treatment of health anxiety.
解释偏向（即对模棱两可的刺激进行选择性的消极解释）可能导致健康焦虑的发展和维持。然而，这种关联的实证证据的强度仍然是一个争论的话题。本研究旨在估计健康焦虑与解释偏向之间的关联，并确定这种关联的潜在调节因素。中文数据库（CNKI、VIP 和万方）、英文数据库（Web of Science、PubMed、PsycINFO 和 Scopus）和德文数据库（Psyndex 和 PubPsych）都对相关研究进行了搜索。通过该搜索共确定了 36 篇文章（39 项研究）（=8984），其中 32 篇文章（34 项研究）被纳入荟萃分析（=8602）。结果显示，总体效应大小为中等（=0.67）。对于临床健康焦虑（=0.58）和亚临床健康焦虑（=0.72）患者，观察到统计学等效的效应大小。与健康相关的威胁刺激（=0.68）和与健康不相关的威胁刺激（=0.63）的效应大小没有显著差异。使用离线范式的研究（=0.75）的效应大小明显高于使用在线范式的研究（=0.50）。结论是，健康焦虑与解释偏向显著且稳健相关。这些发现对于健康焦虑模型的发展和治疗具有核心重要性。
