Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2025
Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm
Published on: October 3, 2020
Experience of Disgust and Symptom Severity in Contamination Subtype of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Role of
Raina Jane D'Mello1, Ajay Kumar1
1Dept. of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Background:
The emotion of disgust has been linked with the underlying nature of the contamination subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (C-OCD). Prior studies show that disgust contributes to the development of C-OCD by reinforcing avoidance strategies. Therefore, experiential avoidance (EA) may influence the effect between disgust sensitivity (DS) and C-OCD symptom severity. This study aimed to investigate the mediational role of EA between DS and C-OCD severity.
Methods:
A cross-sectional design was adopted with 45 patients of OCD and 45 healthy controls. Both the groups were assessed on the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, the Disgust Scale (Revised), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II. Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) checklist and symptom severity scale were additionally administered to the patients with OCD. Independent t-tests, Pearson's product-moment correlation, regression analysis, and mediation analysis were used.
Results:
DS and EA were positively associated with contamination-washing symptoms and symptom severity. Regression analysis indicated that DS and EA were highly associated with contamination/washing severity scores among both the patients with C-OCD and the healthy controls.
Conclusion:
The study implicates that disgust is a central emotion underlying the presentation of obsessions and compulsions, which are of contamination concerns. Further, EA has a role in the maintenance of OCD through avoidance learning; however, it may not be interacting with DS to cause OCD.
More Related Videos
09:14Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: March 14, 2025
10:51Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
Published on: January 20, 2012
Related Concept Videos
01:28Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
01:14Conditioned Taste Aversion
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single...
01:18Anxiety: Overview
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
01:28Social Anxiety Disorder
01:09Preparedness and Phobias
01:14Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...