The Role of Disease Conviction: Exploring Its Effects on Chest Pain and Anxiety-Related Models of Non-cardiac Chest Pain

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of disease conviction in the chest pain and life interference of patients with non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP), after controlling for anxiety sensitivity and body vigilance. While all three psychological constructs are theoretically implicated and empirically associated with the experience of NCCP, no research has examined the influence of disease conviction in the context of other relevant constructs. The sample included 229 participants with NCCP who were recruited after a medical evaluation failed to elicit an organic explanation for their chest pain. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that while anxiety sensitivity significantly predicted chest pain severity and interference, only body vigilance contributed significant additional variance to chest pain severity, and only disease conviction contributed significant additional variance to chest pain interference. While anxiety sensitivity, body vigilance, and disease conviction all appear to affect those with NCCP, it seems that their impact is manifest in different domains (i.e., pain perception vs. psychosocial impairment).