The Role Of Disgust Sensitivity In Disordered Eating Symptomology

Disgust garners minimal scientific consideration, relative to other basic emotions. While disgust is evolutionarily grounded in food appraisal, prima facie associations with disordered eating lack substantial empirical support. The present analyses examined the relationship between disgust, anxiety, and disordered eating in a heterogenous sample. Results from a demographic multiple regression indicated that levels of core, animal-reminder, and contamination disgust sensitivity were predicted by gender, age, and race. Inconsistent with predictions, findings from a hierarchical regression showed that disgust sensitivity did not predict disordered eating, after controlling for anxiety. Finally, two binary logistic regressions assessed the three disgust subscales as predictors of eating disorder categorization. Results indicated that increased core disgust predicted increased likelihood of bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder tentative diagnoses. Furthermore, increased contamination disgust predicted a decreased likelihood of binge-eating disorder classification. These findings suggest that demographic characteristics are predictive of disgust sensitivity and that disgust may play a secondary role to anxiety in predicting disordered eating symptomology. Moreover, these results indicate that dimensions of disgust sensitivity play a role in the etiology of disordered eating, suggesting the need for a greater understanding of this understudied emotion