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Review
. 2022 Sep:156:104141.
doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104141. Epub 2022 Jun 18.

Interoceptive anxiety-related processes: Importance for understanding COVID-19 and future pandemic mental health and addictive behaviors and their comorbidity

Michael J Zvolensky  1 , Brooke Y Kauffman  2 , Lorra Garey  2 , Andres G Viana  2 , Cameron T Matoska  2
Affiliations
Review

Interoceptive anxiety-related processes: Importance for understanding COVID-19 and future pandemic mental health and addictive behaviors and their comorbidity

Michael J Zvolensky et al. Behav Res Ther. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increased prevalence of mental health problems and addictive behaviors. There is a growing theoretical and empirical evidence that individual differences in interoceptive anxiety-related processes are a one set of vulnerability factors that are important in understanding the impact of pandemic-related mental health problems and addictive behavior. However, there has not been a comprehensive effort to explore this rapidly growing body of research and its implications for public health. In this paper, we discuss why interoceptive anxiety-related processes are relevant to understanding mental health and addictive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then provide a narrative review of the available COVID-19 literature linking interoceptive fear and anxiety-related processes (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, health anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety, fear, and worry) to mental health and addictive behaviors. We then propose a novel transdiagnostic theoretical model that highlights the role of interoceptive anxiety-related processes in mental health and addictive behavior in the context of the present and future pandemics. In the final section, we utilize this conceptualization to underscore clinical implications and provide guidance for future research initiatives in the management of COVID-19 mental health and addictive behaviors and inform the public health field for future pandemics.

Keywords: Addiction; COVID-19; Chronic illness; Coronavirus; Health behavior; Mental health; Pandemic(s).

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Zvolensky receives personal fees from Elsevier, Guilford Press, and is supported by grants from NIH, American Cancer Society, and Cancer Research Institute of Texas. Dr. Viana receives personal fees from Elsevier and Springer and is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the University of Houston under Award Number U54MD015946. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Figures

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PRISMA Table.
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Fig. 2
Integratve Theoretical model for systematic resrach on interoceptive anxiety-realted constructs in terms of mental health and addictive behaviors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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