Behavioral avoidance tasks for eliciting disgust and anxiety in contamination fear: An examination of a test for a combined disgust and fear reaction.

While research supports the role of disgust in contamination OCD, there is also an overlap with fear in motivating avoidance. The "heebie-jeebies" is an emotional response associated with fear and disgust that motivates avoidance of contact with skin-transmitted pathogens (e.g., parasites). This motivation aligns with characteristics of contamination OCD. From a screening of undergraduate students (N = 188), contamination fearful (n = 14), high trait-anxious (n = 14), and low trait-anxious (n = 18) groups were created. Participants engaged in disgust, fear, and "heebie-jeebies" behavioral avoidance tasks. Participants rated "heebie-jeebies" emotion, physical sensations, and behavioral urges. Duration or refusal of task was recorded. A significant interaction effect was found for disgust and anxiety. Participants with higher disgust reported higher "heebie-jeebies" emotion at high, but not low, levels of anxiety. Exploratory analyses revealed that many contamination fearful and high trait-anxious participants refused to complete the task. The interaction of disgust and anxiety significantly predicted the probability of refusal. Participants with higher disgust and anxiety were more likely to refuse to complete the task. Results suggest that the "heebie-jeebies" motivates avoidance of skin-transmitted pathogens. Future research is warranted to further investigate the "heebie-jeebies" and how it relates to contamination concerns.