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Disgust in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: Recent Findings and Future Directions

  • Anxiety Disorders (A Pelissolo, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

In the past 20 years, the role of disgust in anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been investigated with increasing precision. In this review, we examine recent evidence implicating disgust in anxiety and OCD, highlighting recent measurement and methodological improvements. Specific emphasis is placed on understanding the mechanisms that may account for the role of disgust in OCD and related disorders.

Recent Findings

Recent developments include clarification of the role of distinct disgust-relevant vulnerabilities in the etiology of anxiety and OCD, an improved understanding of the neurobiology of disgust processing in OCD, and an increased focus on disgust-related mechanisms that contribute to psychopathology, such as disgust-based learning and emotion regulation.

Summary

Disgust proneness is increasingly linked with symptoms of anxiety and OCD. However, further examination of the mechanisms that account for the roles of distinct disgust-relevant vulnerabilities is needed, and studies that directly examine disgust during the course of treatment are limited. Increasingly, the field has moved toward experimental investigation of specific disgust-relevant mechanisms that influence the etiology and treatment of OCD and related anxiety disorders.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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  1. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Kelly A. Knowles, Sarah C. Jessup & Bunmi O. Olatunji

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  1. Kelly A. Knowles
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  2. Sarah C. Jessup
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  3. Bunmi O. Olatunji
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Correspondence to Bunmi O. Olatunji.

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Kelly A. Knowles, Sarah C. Jessup, and Bunmi O. Olatunji declare no conflict of interest.

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All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards (including the Helsinki declaration and its amendments, institutional/national research committee standards, and international/national/institutional guidelines).

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Anxiety Disorders

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Knowles, K.A., Jessup, S.C. & Olatunji, B.O. Disgust in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: Recent Findings and Future Directions. Curr Psychiatry Rep 20, 68 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0936-5

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