Relationship between Metacognitive Beliefs and Intolerance of Uncertainty with Health Anxiety among Athletes: Mediating Role of Physical Activity and Worry

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology, Ashtian Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ashtian, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.

3 PhD student in General Psychology, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.

4 M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran.

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to evaluate the fit of a structural model examining the mediating role of physical activity and worry in the relationship between metacognitive beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty with health anxiety in athletes.
Methods: This research employed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population consisted of all student-athletes in the city of Arak. A sample of 320 participants was selected using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Health Anxiety Questionnaire (Salkovskis et al., 2002), the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Meyer et al., 1990), the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (Wells & Cartwright-Hatton, 2004), and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (McLeod et al., 2009). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Results: The findings indicated that the indirect path coefficients between metacognitive beliefs and health anxiety, as well as between intolerance of uncertainty and health anxiety, through the mediators of physical activity and worry, were positive and statistically significant (P< 0.01).
Conclusion: Designing psychological and training interventions that simultaneously target worry regulation and the promotion of an active lifestyle may contribute to improving athletes’ mental health.
 

Keywords

References

  1. Rezaei S, Darabi A, Rahnedjat AM. The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on decreasing health anxiety. EBNESINA. 2018;20(2):61–7.
  2. Mohamadkhani Shali E, Alipor A, Hasanzadeh Pashang S. Effect of cognitive therapy training in groups on health anxiety among nursing students. Pars of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences. 2013;11(2):45–52. In Persian https://doi.org/10.29252/jmj.11.2.8
  3. Heidaryani L, Keramati-Moghadam M, Keramati-Moghadam M. Investigating the Role of Psychological Stubbornness and Tendency to Exercise in Predicting Health Anxiety During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic. Journal of Health System Research. 2022;18(1):17–22. In Persian http://dx.doi.org/10.48305/jhsr.v18i1.1443
  4. Bagheri Sheykhangafshe F, Tajbakhsh K, Abolghasemi A. Comparison of Covid-19 Anxiety, Coping Styles and Health Anxiety in Athletic and Non-Athletic Students. Sport Psychology Studies. 2020;9(32):283–306. In Persian https://doi.org/10.22089/spsyj.2020.9377.2027
  5. Britton GI, Neale SE, Davey GCL. The effect of worrying on intolerance of uncertainty and positive and negative beliefs about worry. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 2019;62:65–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.09.002
  6. Borkovec TD, Ray WJ, Stober J. Worry: A cognitive phenomenon intimately linked to affective, physiological, and interpersonal behavioral processes. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 1998;22(6):561–76. https://doi.org/10.1023/A%3A1018790003416
  7. Aftab R, Shams A. Relationship Between Integrated Self-Knowledge and Resilience with Anxiety of Being Infected by COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Intolerance of Ambiguity, Worry, and Physical Activity. Sport Psychology Studies. 2020;9(32):201–26. In Persian https://doi.org/10.22089/spsyj.2020.9010.1975
  8. Curran L, Sharpe L, Butow P. Anxiety in the context of cancer: A systematic review and development of an integrated model. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017;56:40–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.06.003
  9. Asgharipour N, Nouri Siahdasht N. Effect of Online Metacognitive Training on Health Anxiety and Mental Health of Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. 2022;28(3):290–303. In Persian http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/ijpcp.28.3.4129.1
  10. Thielsch C, Andor T, Ehring T. Metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty and worry: An investigation in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences. 2015;74:94–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.004
  11. Davey GC, Wells A. Worry and its Psychological Disorders: John Wiley & Sons Ltd; 2008.
  12. Jafari F, purhasannezhad F, kamkar M, daneshi S. Prediction of health anxiety based on metacognitive beliefs, Alexithymia and experiential avoidance in nurses. Faslname-i mudiriyyat-e parastari. 2023;12(1):102–13. In Persian
  13. Barbek RME, Makowski AC, von dem Knesebeck O. Social inequalities in health anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2022;153:110706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110706
  14. Fialko L, Bolton D, Perrin S. Applicability of a cognitive model of worry to children and adolescents. Behav Res Ther. 2012;50(3):341–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2012.02.003
  15. Ranjbar Noushari F, Mohadesi H, Asadi Majareh S, Hashemi S. Psychological correlates of cancer: Worry, life style, self-eficacy. Nursing and Midwifery Journal. 2013;11(9):698–705. In Persian
  16. Rice SM, Purcell R, De Silva S, Mawren D, McGorry PD, Parker AG. The Mental Health of Elite Athletes: A Narrative Systematic Review. Sports Med. 2016;46(9):1333–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0492-2
  17. Babaei-Zarch G, Rostami R, Fahimi H. The Effectiveness of Physical Activity on Enhancing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Review Study. Journal of Health System Research. 2023;19(1):1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.48305/jhsr.v19i1.1481
  18. Nah K, Olthuis JV. Exercise and Health Anxiety in Older Women: Exploring the Mediating Role of Anxiety Sensitivity. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 2023;31(6):978–86. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2022-0204
  19. Salkovskis PM, Rimes KA, Warwick HMC, Clark DM. The Health Anxiety Inventory: development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychological Medicine. 2002;32(5):843–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291702005822
  20. Davoudi I, Nargesi F, Mehrabi Honarmand M. Gender differences in health anxiety and its related dysfunctional beliefs: With control of age. Quarterly Journal of Health Psychology. 2013;1(3):30–8. In Persian
  21. Meyer TJ, Miller ML, Metzger RL, Borkovec TD. Development and validation of the penn state worry questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 1990;28(6):487–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(90)90135-6
  22. Dehshiri GR, Golzari M, Borjali A, Sohrabi F. Psychometrics particularity of Farsi Version of Pennsylvania State Worry Questionnaire for college students. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2009;1(4):67–75. In Persian https://doi.org/10.22075/jcp.2017.1988
  23. Wells A, Cartwright-Hatton S. A short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire: properties of the MCQ-30. Behav Res Ther. 2004;42(4):385–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(03)00147-5
  24. Shirinzadeh Dastgiri S, Goodarzi MA, Rahimi C, Naziri G. Study of factor structure and reliability of Metacognition Questionnaire-30. Journal of Psychology. 2009;12(3):445–61. In Persian
  25. McLain DL. Evidence of the properties of an ambiguity tolerance measure: the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-II (MSTAT-II). Psychological reports. 2009;105(3 Pt 1):975–88. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2466/pr0.105.3.975-988
  26. Feizi A, Mahbobi T, Zare H, Mostafaei A. The relationship of cognitive intelligence and ambiguity tolerance with entrepreneurship among students of West Azarbayjan Payam Noor University, Iran. Research in Behavioural Sciences 2012;10(4):276–84. In Persian
  27. Sarawgi S, Oglesby ME, Cougle JR. Intolerance of uncertainty and obsessive-compulsive symptom expression. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2013;44(4):456–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2013.06.001
  28. Forouzanfar A. Distress tolerance: Theory, Mechanism and Relation to Psychopathology. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi. 2017;6(2):239–62. In Persian
  29. Zlomke KR, Jeter KM. Stress and worry: examining intolerance of uncertainty's moderating effect. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping. 2014;27(2):202–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2013.835400
  30. Esnaashari S, Mohammadkhani S, Hassanabadi H. Cognitive model of anxiety in cancer patients: The role of cognitive and metacognitive components. Quarterly Journal of Health Psychology. 2017;6(21):66–85. In Persian
  31. Lee AH, Woodruff-Borden J. Roles of emotional reactivity, intolerance of uncertainty, and negative problem orientation on developing childhood worry. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018;135:25–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.06.048
  32. Osmanagaoglu N, Creswell C, Dodd HF. Intolerance of Uncertainty, anxiety, and worry in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders. 2018;225:80–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.07.035
  33. Kraft B, Jonassen R, Stiles TC, Landrø NI. Dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs are associated with decreased executive control. Frontiers in Psychology. 2017;8(593). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00593
  34. Sica C, Steketee G, Ghisi M, Chiri LR, Franceschini S. Metacognitive beliefs and strategies predict worry, obsessive–compulsive symptoms and coping styles: A preliminary prospective study on an Italian non-clinical sample. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy. 2007;14(4):258–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.520
  35. Lenzo V, Sardella A, Martino G, Quattropani MC. A Systematic review of metacognitive beliefs in chronic medical conditions. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020;10 (2875). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02875
Sports Psychology
Volume 15, Issue 2
2023
Pages 236-254

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 23 September 2022
  • Revise Date: 05 May 2023
  • Accept Date: 12 May 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics