An Empirical Test of the Association Between Disgust and Sexual Assault

Feldner, Matthew T.; Frala, Jamie; Badour, Christal L.; Leen‐Feldner, Ellen W.; Olatunji, Bunmi O.

doi:10.1521/ijct.2010.3.1.11

Cited by 33 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…First, prior research has typically employed a dichotomous assessment (i.e., presence/absence) of peritraumatic emotion to examine the predictive utility of this construct for the diagnosis of PTSD (e.g., Karam et al 2010). However, consistent with developments in the assessment of peritraumatic emotion among both adult (Brewin et al 2000;Kaysen et al 2005) and adolescent samples (Feldner et al 2010), the current study utilized a dimensional index to measure the intensity of each emotion. This approach allows for increased variability in order to examine the specific contributions of each emotion in predicting variance associated with panic-relevant reactivity to the biological challenge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Specificity of Peritraumatic Fear in Predicting Anxious Reactivity to a Biological Challenge among Traumatic Event-Exposed Adolescents

et al. 2011

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Theory implicates peritraumatic fear-based interoceptive conditioning in the development of panic spectrum problems subsequent to traumatic event exposure. Relatively little empirical work has directly investigated this hypothesis. The current study tested the hypothesis that level of peritraumatic fear would predict anxious reactivity to a well-established 3-min voluntary hyperventilation procedure administered to 63 adolescents who had experienced a DSM-IV-TR-defined traumatic event. This relation was examined after controlling for variance accounted for by posttraumatic stress symptoms, sex, age, anxiety sensitivity, general symptoms of psychopathology, and both peritraumatic helplessness and disgust. As predicted, peritraumatic fear was related to anxious reactivity to hyperventilation-elicited bodily arousal. Specificity tests suggested this relation was specific to peritraumatic fear. Prospective research is now needed to better elucidate the relation between peritraumatic fear and subsequent development of anxious reactivity to bodily arousal and panic spectrum problems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Consistent with previous work (Feldner et al 2010), presence and intensity of peritraumatic fear, helplessness, and disgust were assessed via a supplement to the ADIS-C interview. Specifically, peritraumatic responding was indexed via a series of two-part questions.…”

Section: Peritraumatic Emotion Ratingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specificity of Peritraumatic Fear in Predicting Anxious Reactivity to a Biological Challenge among Traumatic Event-Exposed Adolescents

et al. 2011

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“…Although previous research has consistently identified disgust as an emotion central to both the peri- and posttraumatic emotional experience of sexual assault (Badour et al 2011; Feldner et al 2010; Petrak et al 1997; Shin et al 1999), there are likely individual differences in the degree of disgust experienced. It is possible that disgust sensitivity may evidence an interaction with intensity of peri- and/or posttraumatic feelings of disgust in predicting feelings of mental contamination subsequent to sexual assault.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Traumatic events involving sexual victimization have been linked to elevated feelings of disgust (Badour et al 2011; Feldner et al 2010; Petrak et al 1997; Rüsch et al 2011; Shin et al 1999). For example, adolescents are six times more likely to endorse the presence of disgust during a sexual assault relative to a physical assault (Feldner et al2010), and the majority of sexually assaulted women report ongoing distress related to feelings of self-disgust (Petrak et al 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, adolescents are six times more likely to endorse the presence of disgust during a sexual assault relative to a physical assault (Feldner et al2010), and the majority of sexually assaulted women report ongoing distress related to feelings of self-disgust (Petrak et al 1997). This is critical in light of evidence documenting a unique association between disgust and increased posttraumatic stress symptomatology following sexual trauma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examination of Increased Mental Contamination as a Potential Mechanism in the Association Between Disgust Sensitivity and Sexual Assault-Related Posttraumatic Stress

et al. 2013

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Disgust sensitivity and feelings of mental contamination have both been independently linked to posttraumatic stress symptoms following sexual assault. Theory suggests that feelings of mental contamination may arise, at least in part, as a result of interpreting feelings of disgust experienced in relation to sexual assault to mean that one has been contaminated or tainted by the experience. This study involved an initial test of this model by examining relations among disgust sensitivity, feelings of mental contamination, and posttraumatic stress symptom severity among a sample of female sexual assault victims. Results suggested that one mechanism through which disgust sensitivity might relate to posttraumatic stress symptom severity is through its association with increased feelings of mental contamination. These findings highlight the importance of assessing feelings of disgust and mental contamination among victims of sexual assault, and the need for future research to elucidate the nature of these relations with posttraumatic stress.

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Preliminary Evidence for a Unique Role of Disgust‐Based Conditioning in Posttraumatic Stress

Badour

Feldner

Blumenthal

et al. 2013

Journal of Traumatic Stress

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Independent lines of evidence have linked posttraumatic stress symptomatology to both peritraumatic disgust (i.e., disgust experienced during a traumatic event) and posttraumatic disgust reactivity in response to traumatic event cues among individuals exposed to traumatic events. Much of this work suggests disgust, defined as a rejection/revulsion response aimed at distancing oneself from a potential source of contamination, may be important in understanding the nature of posttraumatic stress reactions even after accounting for the more frequently studied affective states of fear and anxiety. The current investigation provided a preliminary test of a model of disgust in posttraumatic stress among a sample of 54 community-recruited women with a history sexual victimization. Both peritraumatic disgust and posttraumatic disgust reactivity in response to an ideographic traumatic event script were significantly associated with posttraumatic stress symptom severity. After accounting for variability associated peritraumatic fear and posttraumatic anxious reactivity, an indirect effect of peritraumatic disgust through posttraumatic disgust reactivity also was found, suggesting that one mechanism through which peritraumatic disgust relates to posttraumatic stress is through its relation with increased posttraumatic disgust reactivity. These findings highlight the importance of further elucidating the nature of disgust in relation to traumatic events and subsequent posttraumatic stress reactions.

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An Empirical Test of the Association Between Disgust and Sexual Assault

Cited by 33 publications

References 35 publications

Specificity of Peritraumatic Fear in Predicting Anxious Reactivity to a Biological Challenge among Traumatic Event-Exposed Adolescents

Specificity of Peritraumatic Fear in Predicting Anxious Reactivity to a Biological Challenge among Traumatic Event-Exposed Adolescents

Examination of Increased Mental Contamination as a Potential Mechanism in the Association Between Disgust Sensitivity and Sexual Assault-Related Posttraumatic Stress

Preliminary Evidence for a Unique Role of Disgust‐Based Conditioning in Posttraumatic Stress

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