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Internet-delivered psychological treatment for parents with health anxiety by proxy: A replicated randomized single-case experimental design
Katrine Ingeman;
Ditte Hoffmann Frydendal;
Lisbeth Frostholm;
Ellen Bjerre-Nielsen;
Kaare Bro Wellnitz;
Patrick Onghena;
Kristi Wright;
Charlotte Ulrikka Rask
ABSTRACT
Background:
Health anxiety (HA) by proxy is characterized by ruminations about severe illness in one's child. Although HA by proxy can cause severe distress in affected parents, no targeted treatment has previously been evaluated.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and effect of the internet-delivered treatment PROXY for parents with HA by proxy.
Methods:
Four participants with HA by proxy entered a replicated randomized single-case experimental design. They were randomly allocated to a baseline period of 7-26 days before entering the eight-week treatment. The primary outcome was daily measures of anxiety, impact of anxiety and value-based actions analyzed using visual analysis, and supplemented with statistical analyses. Secondary outcomes were measures of anxiety-related symptoms, experience of the treatment and negative events.
Results:
Visual analysis indicated that PROXY could be an effective treatment for two participants. All par-ticipants were happy about the treatment but two participants experienced that HA for their own health deteriorated during treatment, and two participants thought the treatment was too short.
Conclusions:
could hold potential as a treatment for HA by proxy. However, more work is required in relation to when and how PROXY should be introduced to parents with HA by proxy. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04830605
Citation
Please cite as:
Ingeman K, Frydendal DH, Frostholm L, Bjerre-Nielsen E, Wellnitz KB, Onghena P, Wright K, Rask CU
Internet-Delivered Psychological Treatment for Parents With Health Anxiety by Proxy: Replicated Randomized Single-Case Experimental Design