A Taxometric Study of Hypochondriasis Symptoms
Section snippets
Taxometric Analysis of Hypochondriasis
In the only taxometric study using a well-known measure of hypochondriasis, Ferguson (2009) examined the categorical versus dimensional status of hypochondriasis with a shortened version of the Whiteley Index (Barsky et al., 1986, Barsky et al., 1990, Pilowsky, 1967). This author interpreted his findings as suggestive of a latent dimensional structure. Although this study represents an important step in better understanding the nature of hypochondriasis, there were methodological limitations.
Participants
Participants were 1,083 undergraduates from a midwestern university who completed a questionnaire battery in exchange for course credit. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 57 years old (M = 20.8, SD = 4.51). Most of the participants were female (64%) and Caucasian (68.6%), but 14 % were Hispanic, 6.7% were African-American, and 3.2% were Asian. Unmarried participants comprised 87.2% of the sample, with the remainder being married (6.9%), divorced (0.6%), widowed (0.4%), or “other” (4.9%).
Multidimensional Inventory of Hypochondriacal Traits (MIHT; Longley et al., 2005)
The
Data Analytic Strategy
In an effort to generate meaningful indicators that provide comprehensive coverage of the hypochondriasis construct, items from the three measures of hypochondriacal symptoms were combined (i.e., WI, IAS, and MIHT) and subjected to principal axis factoring followed by varimax rotation. We used this type of factor analysis to more easily identify items that loaded significantly on more than one factor. The following criteria were used to judge solutions: (a) the number of markers with primary
Discussion
The present study suggests that hypochondriasis, as assessed by composite hypochondriasis symptom indicators, is dimensional at the latent level. In this regard, it extends previous research, corroborates existing theory, and suggests future directions for research. Contemporary diagnostic classification systems that conceptualize hypochondriasis as a category are at odds with prevailing theory and with observations that it is a heterogeneous condition (Ferguson, 2009, Katon et al., 1991,
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