2025/01/01 by Botond László Kiss, Dávid Erát, Béla Birkás +1 · 1 voice
Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Anxiety #Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies #Empathy and Medical Education #Intervention (counseling) #Likert scale #Medical diagnosis #Medical record #Psychological intervention #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Quality (philosophy) #Resource (disambiguation)
paper · doi:10.1525/collabra.150281
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/12/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
A growing body of research has been dedicated to investigating anxiety in relation to medical procedures, as this anxiety disorder is among the most prevalent and has a substantial impact on quality of life. However, no standardized image database currently exists that specifically targets these types of fears. The present study aims to establish an image database that reliably represents the relevant emotional reactions associated with medical fears. The images were categorized into four groups (Fear-related, Disgust-related, Mixed, and Neutral) based on the emotions they evoke. This process yielded 111 pictures depicting various medical procedures, injuries, medical situations, and equipment. In an online survey, 557 (420 female; age range: 18-80; mean age=27.7; SD=11.1) participants rated the images along four dimensions (arousal, disgust, threat, valence) on a 9-point Likert scale. Although the initial categories differed across dimensions, cluster analysis indicated that arousal provided the most meaningful classification, resulting in three categories: high-threat, moderate-threat, and neutral images. The present findings suggest that intensity (arousal) rather than discrete emotions (such as fear or disgust) primarily drives evaluations of medical-related stimuli. Differences by sex and medical qualification further validated the database. This new resource offers a reliable tool for research on fears associated with medical procedures.