Cognitive mechanisms of disgust in the development and maintenance of psychopathology: A qualitative review and synthesis.

Cognitive mechanisms of disgust in the development and maintenance of psychopathology: A qualitative review and synthesis.
Clin Psychol Rev. 2018 Jun 07;:
Authors: Knowles KA, Cox RC, Armstrong T, Olatunji BO
Abstract
A growing body of research has implicated disgust in various psychopathologies, especially anxiety-related disorders. Although the observed role of disgust in many disorders is robust, the mechanisms that may explain this role are unclear. Cutting-edge research in cognitive science has the potential to elucidate such mechanisms and consequently improve our understanding of how disgust contributes to the etiology and maintenance of psychopathology. In this qualitative review, we systematically assess cognitive bias mechanisms that have been linked to disgust and its disorders. This review suggests that disgust-related biases may be observed in memory, interpretation, judgment of expectancies, and attention, as well as at implicit levels. Of these cognitive domains, the most robust bias appears to be observed at the level of attention. However, reliable moderators of attentional biases for disgust have not yet been identified, and this bias has not been systematically linked to other levels of analysis. Despite these limitations, the available research indicates that attentional avoidance rather than orienting or maintenance may be the most characteristic of disgust. Attentional avoidance of disgust may have important imp...

Source: Clinical Psychology Review - June 7, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Knowles KA, Cox RC, Armstrong T, Olatunji BO Tags: Clin Psychol Rev Source Type: research