The Relationship Between Distress Tolerance and Emotion Regulation With Health Anxiety and the Mediating Role of Spiritual Intelligence

Background and Objectives: Medical staff experience higher levels of health anxiety due to exposure to various diseases. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the predictors of health anxiety and examine the relationship between distress tolerance and emotion regulation with health anxiety, considering the mediating role of spiritual intelligence among medical staff. Methods: This descriptive correlational study employed the structural equation model and was conducted on 212 staff members of Algadir Hospital in Tabriz City, Iran (including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and paramedic assistants, receptionists, and secretaries of doctors from all departments) selected via the convenience sampling method in 2024. This study utilized the health anxiety inventory by Salkovskis and Warwick (2002), the distress tolerance scale by Simons and Gaher (2005), the difficulties in emotion regulation scale by Gratz and Roemer (2004), and the spiritual intelligence scale by Abdullahzadeh et al. (2008). Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 26 and Smart-pls software, version 3. Results: The study results showed a significant relationship between health anxiety and both distress tolerance and difficulty in emotional regulation, as well as spiritual intelligence. Difficulty in emotion regulation, directly and indirectly, could predict health anxiety with the mediating role of spiritual intelligence. The proposed model demonstrated a desirable fit; however, distress tolerance was found to neither directly nor indirectly predict health anxiety. Conclusion: Health anxiety in medical staff is affected by cognitive and emotional variables.