A critical analysis of morbid fear of HIV/AIDS

Social Determinants of Message Exposure and Health Anxiety Among Young Sexual Minority Men in the United States During the 2022 Mpox Outbreak

This study tested the structural influence model of communication in the context of the 2022 global outbreak of the Mpox virus among young sexual minority men. The primary objective was to understand how distinct social determinants, including education, race/ethnicity, and interpersonal discrimination, influenced exposure to Mpox messages in daily life and affected health anxiety concerning the Mpox virus in the United States. We also explored the significance of LGBTQ+ community connectedness as a crucial form of social capital during the outbreak. We collected a three-wave longitudinal dataset and examined within-person and between-person associations using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. Participants (N = 254) reported that internet sources and social media were their primary information sources for Mpox messages during the outbreak. Educational attainment, racial minority status, and LGBTQ+ community connectedness were significantly associated with message exposure. Young sexual minority men who faced greater interpersonal discrimination in their daily lives also reported higher rates of Mpox-related health anxiety. Longitudinal analysis indicated that (at the within-person level) Mpox anxiety was significantly associated with greater Mpox message exposure in the month following the outbreak, but that relationship waned in the subsequent month. The theoretical implications highlight the relevance of minority stress variables in the structural influence model of communication framework and suggest the importance of community connectedness as a distinct form of social capital shaping message exposure and health anxiety during the Mpox outbreak in the United States.

A Perfect Storm? Health Anxiety, Contamination Fears, and COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Past Pandemics and Current Challenges

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread, becoming a global pandemic with significant health, economic, and social impacts. COVID-19 has caused widespread anxiety, which at healthy levels leads to adaptive, protective behavioral changes. For some individuals, a pandemic outbreak can lead to excessive, maladaptive levels of anxiety, particularly among those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and health anxiety. In the present paper, we review past research studies that examined anxiety in response to other disease outbreaks (including Swine Flu, Zika, and Ebola) to serve as a guide for expectable responses to COVID-19. Our review focused on the role of belief-based cognitive variables (obsessive beliefs, contamination cognitions), transdiagnostic processes (disgust sensitivity, anxiety sensitivity, an intolerance of uncertainty), social factors, and environmental/situational variables as contributing factors to excessive concerns about past pandemics. These factors in combination with unique characteristics of the virus (disease, behavioral, social and economic factors) and media consumption might enhance vulnerability to excessive anxiety about COVID-19, in line with a diathesis-stress model. COVID-19 is also unique from past pandemics due to its severity, easy transmissibility, and the nature of prescribed behavioral responses (i.e., hand washing and social distancing). We therefore discuss the ways in which COVID-19 may disproportionately affect individuals with OCD and health anxiety. We conclude with important topics for clinical and research attention to help mental health professionals respond in this time of crisis.