Tsao Steven D, McKay Dean
Fordham University, Department of Psychology, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458-5198, USA.
Behav Res Ther. 2004 Feb;42(2):207-16. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00119-0.
Much of the existing literature examining the role of disgust is limited to specific phobia. Recent research has begun to examine the role of disgust in contamination fear, a subtype of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Through the use of behavioral avoidance tasks (BATs), the current study was designed to examine the role of disgust in people with contamination fears, with attention to distinguishing high and low trait anxiety. From a large screening of undergraduate students, three groups were formed based on their level of contamination fear and level of trait anxiety: contamination fearful ( n = 12 ), high-trait anxiety ( n = 11 ), and low trait anxiety ( n = 15 ). Subjects were asked to engage in six different BATs corresponding to six domains of disgust (food, animals, body products, body envelope violations, death, and sympathetic magic). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences between the contamination fearful group and the high trait anxiety group on the animal and sympathetic magic BATs. Significant differences on the food, animal, body envelope violations, and death BATs were also found between the contamination fearful group and the low-trait anxious group. The findings modestly support the importance of disgust in contamination fears. Implications for the study of disgust in contamination fear are provided.
现有许多研究厌恶情绪作用的文献都局限于特定恐惧症。近期研究已开始探讨厌恶情绪在强迫症状亚型——污染恐惧中的作用。通过使用行为回避任务（BATs），本研究旨在考察厌恶情绪在有污染恐惧的人群中的作用，并着重区分高特质焦虑和低特质焦虑。从对本科生的大规模筛查中，根据他们的污染恐惧程度和特质焦虑水平形成了三组：污染恐惧组（n = 12）、高特质焦虑组（n = 11）和低特质焦虑组（n = 15）。受试者被要求参与六种不同的行为回避任务，分别对应厌恶情绪的六个领域（食物、动物、身体产物、身体包膜侵犯、死亡和交感巫术）。单因素方差分析（ANOVA）表明，在动物和交感巫术行为回避任务上，污染恐惧组与高特质焦虑组之间存在显著差异。在食物、动物、身体包膜侵犯和死亡行为回避任务上，污染恐惧组与低特质焦虑组之间也存在显著差异。这些发现适度支持了厌恶情绪在污染恐惧中的重要性。本文还提供了对污染恐惧中厌恶情绪研究的启示。
