ИСТИНА

Objectives The situation of the COVID-19 pandemic is making significant changes in the psychological state and well-being of the population. "Health anxiety" is one of the significant constructs that require detailed research in clinical psychology. The research of health anxiety in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods 164 respondents (average age - 22±3.2). We used: "Short Health Anxiety Inventory" (SHAI; Salkovskis et al., 2002), STAI (Spielberger, 2002). Results In modern foreign studies, health anxiety is considered from the perspective of a cognitive-behavioral approach and is equated with the concept of "hypochondria". However, the hypochondriac radical of personality is considered at the same time from the standpoint of pathology exclusively, whereas health anxiety, in our view, does not reach clinical hypochondriac states. Our study of health anxiety (2020-2021) statistically reliable showed that health anxiety is an independent construct, the consideration of which should begin with non-clinical forms of manifestation. The results show the greater severity of health anxiety in female respondents: "Health anxiety" - 12.29±6.25 (male), 16.05±9.87 (female) "Vigilance to bodily sensations" - 9.14±4.93 (male), 12.45±7.91 (female) "Fear of negative consequences" – 3.14±2.76 (male), 3.58±3.42 (female) Conclusions The consideration of health anxiety from the position of an independent construct is of obvious practical significance for psychoprophylactic, psych corrective and psychotherapeutic work with clients and patients and has significant prospects for the development of modern clinical psychology and health psychology, which plays a special role in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 21-18-00624.