The German version of the H-YBOCS for the assessment of hypochondriacal cognitions and behaviors: development, reliability and validity.

BACKGROUND Clinician-administered interviews are essential for assessing the efficacy of treatment studies and constitute an important instrument for clinical practice. Recently, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was adapted for the dimensional assessment of hypochondriacal characteristics (H-YBOCS) and yielded promising results. PURPOSE This study aimed to develop and validate a German version of the H-YBOCS. METHOD Altogether, 101 patients with hypochondriasis and 49 patients with anxiety disorders were diagnosed using the German version of the H-YBOCS. Well-established questionnaires for assessing hypochondriacal characteristics and the general psychopathology were administered as well. RESULTS Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a three-factor structure for the German version of the H-YBOCS (cognitive factor, behavioral factor, and insight factor). The current version of H-YBOCS demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.93) and inter-rater reliability (ICC = .97). Convergent and discriminant validity were also confirmed by high correlations with questionnaires such as the Illness Attitudes Scales (r = 0.81) and non-significant correlations with the Brief Symptom Inventory (r = 0.12). The H-YBOCS discriminated between patients with hypochondriasis and those with anxiety disorder, with high sensitivity (0.94) and specificity (0.78). CONCLUSION The German version of the H-YBOCS proved to be a highly effective interview instrument for the dimensional assessment of hypochondriacal characteristics and therefore constitutes an important contribution to scientific research and clinical practice.