Abstract:

Backgrounds: Psychosocial risk factors related to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are associated with disease outcomes, quality of life, and higher mortality and morbidity. Common-Sense Model of Illness suggests that when people are confronted with an illness, they interpret their somatic sensations and develop their own perceptions of that illness in order to make sense of their condition. The way patients interpret their illness may lead to the occurrence of depression and anxiety.  The aim of this research was to examine a possible mediating role of heart-focused anxiety (HFA) in the relationship between illness perception and depression and general anxiety. It was hypothesized that HFA would mediate the relationship between illness perceptions and depression/anxiety. Patients with more positive beliefs about the controllability of their illness would experience lower HFA and, as a result, lower levels of depression and general anxiety.

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