Health anxiety – An indicator of higher interoceptive sensitivity?

Abstract Background and objectives According to cognitive-behavioral models, health anxiety arises from the misattribution of normal bodily sensations as signs of a severe illness. Consequently, higher levels of interoceptive accuracy might be critically involved in the development of health anxiety. Methods To test this central assumption of cognitive behavioral models of health anxiety, we assessed interoceptive accuracy in a sample of college students ( N  = 100). Two interoceptive tasks (detection of one's own heartbeat using the Schandry paradigm and detection of nonspecific skin conductance fluctuations, NSCFs) were used. Results We found no indication for a positive association betwe…