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Journal of Health Psychology
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Adult Attachment, Reassurance Seeking and Hypochondriacal Concerns in College Students

Alison Wearden

University of Manchester, UK

Katherine Perryman

University of Manchester, UK

Victoria Ward

University of Manchester, UK

An individual’s attachment style can be conceptualized as a working model for interactions with others, developed as result of experiences with childhood caregivers. People with hypochondriacal tendencies are preoccupied with thoughts of having an illness and constantly seek medical reassurance. We hypothesized that students with preoccupied attachment would score highly on a measure of hypochondriasis and investigated whether the association would be explained by the general tendency to seek reassurance in relationships. A total of 117 undergraduate students completed questionnaires measuring attachment style; negative affectivity; reassurance seeking in relationships and hypochondriasis. Participants with preoccupied attachment style (n = 17, 15%) had significantly higher hypochondriasis scores than those with other attachment styles. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis suggested that the association between the preoccupied attachment style and hypochondriasis was explained by the general tendency to seek reassurance in relationships, with negative affectivity, a dispositional variable, also acting as a significant predictor of hypochondriasis.

Key Words: adult attachment • hypochondriasis • negative affectivity • reassurance seeking

Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 11, No. 6, 877-886 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1359105306069086
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[Abstract] [PDF]