Psychometric analysis of the Korean version of the Disgust Scale-Revised

Disgust is a basic emotion associated with feelings of revulsion and withdrawal behaviors from dangerous situations. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Disgust Scale--Revised (DS-R), a tool designed to measure individuals' responses to various disgust-provoking situations, among Korean populations.

A sample of 1117 healthy volunteers completed self-report questionnaires containing the 27-item DS-R. A subsample (n = 231) completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Principal component analysis using a varimax rotation was conducted. Construct validity was assessed using Pearson correlation analysis for the TCI, EPQ, and STAI. To examine differences in responses on the DS-R among populations, patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were compared with healthy subjects who were matched with respect to age and sex.

The Cronbach α estimates for total items and the 3 original subscales of the DS-R, including: core disgust, animal reminder disgust, and contamination-based disgust, were 0.86, 0.77, 0.80, and 0.55, respectively. Principal component analysis identified 5 factors, which accounted for 48% of the total variance of the scale. The 5 newly developed dimensions were labeled as core disgust-touch, core disgust-dirt, contamination-based disgust, animal reminder disgust, and social intolerance disgust. The Cronbach α coefficients were 0.79, 0.64, 0.46, 0.77, and 0.34, respectively, for these subscales. The DS-R was correlated positively with harm avoidance from the TCI, neuroticism from the EPQ, and the anxiety scores of STAI. Furthermore, the contamination-based disgust scores for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were higher than those of normal controls.

The DS-R may be a reliable, valid, and acceptable tool to measure disgust sensitivity among Korean populations. The psychometric properties of the Korean version of the DS-R and the original DS-R are discussed.