Predicting PTSS in general population during COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of health anxiety

•Health anxiety and PTSS are more prevalent during COVID-19 pandemic.•First study to assess the mediating role of health anxiety when predicting PTSS during COVID-19 pandemic.•Health anxiety mediated relationship between sleep problems, fear of getting infected and PTSS.•Health anxiety had also a mediated effect between psychiatric history and PTSS symptoms.•Screening of health anxiety could be useful to identify individuals with heightened risk of PTSS. Despite health anxiety (HA) is associated with higher incidence of anxiety disorders, no studies have examined the association between this variable and the increased levels of Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) reported during COVID pandemic. This study was conducted online between April and May 2020. Data were collected from 468 men and women from the Spanish general population. Sociodemographic and COVID-19-related data, health anxiety, PTSS, fear of becoming infected, social support, sleep problems and past/current psychological/psychiatric history were assessed. The mediating effect of HA when predicting PTSS was explored with mediational analyses. Moderated mediational analyses were also performed to test if receiving psychological treatment during pandemic changes the mediating effect of HA. Prevalence of PTSS was higher in high-scorers in HA (p