Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET), particularly immersive Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (iVRET), has gained attraction as an innovative approach in exposure therapy (ET), notably for some anxiety disorders with a fear of contamination component, such as spider phobia (SP) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This systematic work investigates iVRET\'s effectiveness in modulating disgust emotion-a shared aberrant feature across these disorders. Recent reviews have evaluated VRET\'s efficacy against in vivo ET. However, emerging evidence also highlights iVRET\'s potential in diminishing atypical disgust and related avoidance behaviors, expanding beyond traditional fear-focused outcomes. Our systematic synthesis, adhering to PRISMA guidelines, aims to fill this gap by assessing iVRET\'s efficacy in regulating disgust emotion within both clinical and at-risk populations, identified through standardized questionnaires and subjective disgust ratings. This research analyzes data from eight studies on clinical populations and five on healthy populations, offering an insight into iVRET\'s potential to mitigate the aberrant disgust response, a common transdiagnostic feature in varied psychopathologies. The findings support iVRET\'s clinical relevance in disgust management, providing evidence for a broader therapeutic application of iVRET and pointing out the need for more focused and complete investigations in this emergent field.

Disgust can be acquired via evaluative conditioning; a process by which a neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus; CS) comes to be evaluated as disgusting due to its pairing with an inherently disgusting stimulus (unconditioned stimulus; US). Research has shown that conditioned disgust responses are resistant to extinction which may have implications for disorders (i.e., contamination-based obsessive-compulsive disorder, specific phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder) in which heightened disgust has been implicated. Importantly, extinction is the primary mechanism by which exposure therapies are thought to achieve symptom reduction for these disorders. Exposure therapies were originally modeled on fear extinction, whereas disgust extinction was largely overlooked until recently. Accordingly, differences in the degree to which learned disgust and fear can be attenuated via extinction learning remains unclear. The present investigation was a meta-analysis directly comparing the degree of extinction of conditioned disgust (n = 14) and conditioned fear (n = 14) in laboratory paradigms. Extinction was operationalized as the standardized mean difference (SMD) in evaluative ratings between the CS+ (the CS paired with the US) and CS- (the unpaired CS) after extinction training. Results of a subgroup analysis indicated that disgust (SMD = 0.52) was significantly more resistant to extinction than fear (SMD = 0.37). Additionally, a series of meta-regression analyses indicated that extinction was not influenced by important study characteristics (e.g., sex, age, number of conditioning and extinction trials). The findings suggest that extinction-based approaches may be less effective at attenuating learned disgust and research is needed to better optimize treatments for disgust-related disorders.

Disgust is a basic emotion of rejection, providing an ancestral defensive mechanism against illness. Based on research that documents altered experiences of disgust across several psychopathological conditions, we conducted a narrative review to address the hypothesis that altered disgust may serve as a transdiagnostic index of mental illness. Our synthesis of the literature from past decades suggests that, compared to healthy populations, patients with mental disorders exhibit abnormal processing of disgust in at least one of the analyzed dimensions. We also outline evidence of alterations in brain areas relevant to disgust processing, such as the insula and the interconnected limbic network. Overall, we provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that altered disgust processing may serve as a transdiagnostic index of mental illness.

The need to belong is a fundamental aspect of human nature. Over the past two decades, researchers have uncovered many harmful effects of social rejection. However, less work has examined the emotional antecedents to rejection. The purpose of the present article was to explore how disgust--an emotion linked to avoidance and social withdrawal--serves as an important antecedent to social rejection. We argue that disgust affects social rejection through three routes. First, disgust encourages stigmatization, especially of those who exhibit cues of infectious disease. Second, disgust and disease-avoidance give rise to cultural variants (e.g., socially conservative values and assortative sociality), which mitigate social interaction. Third, when the self is perceived as a source of contamination, it promotes shame, which, subsequently, encourages withdrawal from social interaction. Directions for future research are also discussed.

Self-disgust is a negative self-conscious emotion that reflects disgust or revulsion directed toward oneself. A growing body of research has demonstrated a link between self-disgust, depression, and anxiety. However, the strength of these associations varied considerably across studies, suggesting the need to conduct a meta-analysis to produce a synthesized truer estimate. This review aimed to summarize the primary literature and improve our insight into these associations. The present study used three-level meta-analytic models to synthesize effect sizes and investigate potential moderators of the associations of self-disgust with depression and anxiety. The results revealed a significant association between self-disgust and depression (pooled r = 0.520, 95 % CI [0.485; 0.669], p < .001). The results also showed a significant and moderate association between self-disgust and anxiety (pooled r = 0.452, 95 % CI [0.419; 0.556], p < .001). These associations were held according to sex and age. In conclusion, this meta-analysis supports a moderate-to-large association between self-disgust, depression, and anxiety, suggesting that it is worthy of consideration in research and clinical practice.

Disgust and self-disgust are aversive emotions which are often encountered in people with eating disorders. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of disgust and self-disgust in people with eating disorders using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The systematic review of the literature revealed 52 original research papers. There was substantial heterogeneity regarding the research question and outcomes. However, we found 5 articles on disgust elicited by food images, 10 studies on generic disgust sensitivity, and 4 studies on self-disgust, and we proceeded to a meta-analytic approach on these studies. We found that women with eating disorders have significantly higher momentary disgust feelings in response to food images (1.32; 95% CI 1.05, 1.59), higher generic disgust sensitivity (0.49; 95% CI 0.24, 0.71), and higher self-disgust (1.90; 95% CI 1.51, 2.29) compared with healthy controls. These findings indicate the potential clinical relevance of disgust and self-disgust in the treatment of eating disorders.

Disrupted interoceptive processes are present in a range of psychiatric conditions, and there is a small but growing body of research on the role of interoception in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In this review, we outline dimensions of interoception and review current literature on the processing of internal bodily sensations within OCD. Investigations in OCD utilizing objective measures of interoception are limited and results mixed, however, the subjective experience of internal bodily sensations appears to be atypical and relate to specific patterns of symptom dimensions. Further, neuroimaging investigations suggest that interoception is related to core features of OCD, particularly sensory phenomena and disgust. Interoception is discussed in the context of treatment by presenting an overview of existing interventions and suggesting how modifications aimed at better targeting interoceptive processes could serve to optimize outcomes. Interoception represents a promising direction for multi-method research in OCD, which we expect, will prove useful for improving current interventions and identifying new treatment targets.

Worldwide colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates are suboptimal. This systematic review and meta-analysis examine the role of disgust in CRC screening avoidance.
A systematic literature search was conducted. In all, 46 studies were included in the review. Among these, 16 studies were compared with a meta-analytical approach in order to 1) estimate the effect size of state disgust on screening intention and attendance; 2) examine whether methodological characteristics moderate the effect of state disgust on screening behaviour; 3) estimate the effect sizes of trait disgust and type of exam kit on state disgust.
In the reviewed studies, state disgust was often associated with CRC screening and especially with CRC screening avoidance. The meta-analysis confirmed low-to-moderate negative effects of state disgust on screening intention and attendance. Population sampling strategy was the only significant moderator of the effect of state disgust on screening attendance, i.e. studies that used convenience (versus random/representative) samples found a significantly lower effect size. Trait disgust and type of exam kit exerted a large and a moderate-to-large positive effect, respectively, on state disgust.
Disgust can boost CRC screening avoidance. Further studies and interventions must be designed to help patients in overcoming this emotional barrier.

The main purpose of this study is to describe how negative emotions were investigated in the sphere of dermatological diseases, in order (1) to summarize literature trends about skin disorders and emotions, (2) to highlight any imbalances between the most studied and neglected emotions, (3) and to offer directions for future research. A computerized literature search provided 41 relevant and potentially eligible studies. Results showed that the study of emotions in skin disease is limited to Sadness/depression and Fear/anxiety. The emotions of Anger and Disgust have been poorly explored in empirical studies, despite they could be theoretically considered a vulnerability factor for the development of skin disorders and the dermatological extreme consequences, as negative emotionality toward self and the pathological skin condition. The bibliometric qualitative analysis with VOSViewer software revealed that the majority of the studies have been focused on the relationships between vitiligo and Sadness/depression, dermatitis and Fear/anxiety, psoriasis, and Anger, suggesting the need of future research exploring Disgust and, in general, a wider emotional spectrum.
El objetivo principal de este estudio fue describir cómo se han investigado las emociones negativas en el ámbito de las enfermedades dermatológicas, con el fin de (1) resumir las tendencias de la literatura sobre las enfermedades de la piel y las emociones, (2) para resaltar las diferencias entre las emociones más estudiados y las más descuidadas y (3) ofrecer direcciones para futuras investigaciones. Una búsqueda bibliográfica computarizada proporcionó 41 estudios relevantes y potencialmente elegibles. Los resultados mostraron que el estudio de las emociones en la enfermedad de la piel se limita a Tristeza/depresión y Miedo/ansiedad. Las emociones de la ira y el asco han sido poco exploradas en estudios empíricos, a pesar de que teóricamente podrían considerarse un factor de vulnerabilidad para el desarrollo de enfermedades de la piel y las consecuencias dermatológicas extremas, como la emocionalidad negativa hacia uno mismo y la condición patológica de la piel. El análisis cualitativo bibliométrico con el software VOSViewer reveló que la mayoría de los estudios se han centrado en las relaciones entre vitiligo y Tristeza/depresión, dermatitis y Miedo/ansiedad, psoriasis e Ira, lo que sugiere la necesidad de futuras investigaciones que exploren asco y, en general, un espectro emocional más amplio.

BACKGROUND: Disgust is a common emotion experienced by healthcare professionals which in extreme cases can contribute to neglect and abuse of patients. However, little research has explored how healthcare professionals experience disgust and what coping strategies they use to manage it.
OBJECTIVE: To identify, evaluate and synthesise results from empirical papers that have explored how healthcare professionals experience, understand and manage disgust in clinical work.
METHODS: A narrative literature review.
METHODS: Using the EBSCOHost interface, a range of databases were systematically searched alongside manual searches and citation chaining which yielded the 11 papers included in this review.
METHODS: Qualitative synthesis.
RESULTS: Three major themes were identified: The professionals\' struggle to talk about disgust; the importance of boundaries: boundary breaching and boundary building; and the role of empathy in caring.
CONCLUSIONS: This review found that disgust is a common experience for healthcare professionals, yet it is not talked about or openly expressed. Professionals have developed ways to cope with disgust and use empathy as a main strategy to overcome it. The review suggests that healthcare professionals should consider ways of making disgust part of a wider conversation, allowing clinicians to engage with their feelings, rather than feel ashamed of them and hiding disgust away as a silent part of care.