Relationships between health anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, rumination and self-compassion: A structural equation and latent profile analysis

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between health anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, rumination, and self-compassion through structural equation modeling (SEM) and latent profile analysis (LPA). The study group consists of 471 participants (296 female and 175 male) between the ages of 18 and 75 who were reached by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale Short Form (IUS), the Ruminative Thought Style Scale (RTS), and the Self-compassion Scale (SCS). SPSS AMOS was used for the SEM analysis and MPLUS for the LPA analysis. The SEM results indicate that intolerance of uncertainty was positively associated with health anxiety and negatively associated with self-compassion, while rumination was negatively associated with self-compassion but not directly associated with health anxiety. The mediating role of self-compassion was significant in the relationship between both intolerance of uncertainty and rumination with health anxiety, highlighting the protective role of self-compassion against anxiety. The LPA revealed two latent profiles within the study group. The first latent profile, labeled “lower health anxiety symptoms and higher self-compassion,” included participants with lower levels of health anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and rumination, but higher levels of self-compassion. The second latent profile, “higher health anxiety symptoms and lower self-compassion,” comprised individuals with higher levels of health anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and rumination, and lower levels of self-compassion. These findings emphasize the importance of self-compassion and effective cognitive coping strategies in mitigating health anxiety, suggesting targeted interventions to enhance self-compassion and manage cognitive processes could be beneficial.