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Effects of attention training on hypochondriasis: a brief case series

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1998

COSTAS PAPAGEORGIOU  and
ADRIAN WELLS
COSTAS PAPAGEORGIOU
Affiliation:
From the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool; and Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester
ADRIAN WELLS
Affiliation:
From the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool; and Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester
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Abstract

Background. Empirical evidence indicates that manipulations of attention may facilitate changes in cognition and stress symptoms in emotional disorder.

Methods. The present study reports the effects of Attention Training (ATT) in a brief case series of three patients with primary hypochondriasis using an A–B–A design.

Results. ATT produced clinically significant improvements in self-reported measures of affect, and illness-related behaviour and cognition. Treatment gains were maintained at 6 months follow-up assessments. Measures of body-focused attention indicated that the ATT procedure acted on attentional processes as intended.

Conclusions. The present case series extends the effects of ATT to problems of hypochondriasis. A number of studies now suggest that ATT is associated with a reduction in anxiety and negative beliefs across disorders of panic, social phobia and hypochondriasis. Controlled clinical trials are now required to establish firmly the effects of ATT as a component of cognitive therapy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 193 - 200
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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