Disgust proneness predicts obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity in a clinical sample of youth: Distinctions from negative affect.

BACKGROUND: Although studies have linked disgust proneness to the etiology and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adults, there remains a paucity of research examining the specificity of this association among youth.

METHOD: The present study employed structural equation modeling to examine the association between disgust proneness, negative affect, and OCD symptom severity in a clinical sample of youth admitted to a residential treatment facility (N =471).

RESULTS: Results indicate that disgust proneness and negative affect latent factors independently predicted an OCD symptom severity latent factor. However, when both variables were modeled as predictors simultaneously, latent disgust proneness remained significantly associated with OCD symptom severity, whereas the association between latent negative affect and OCD symptom severity became nonsignificant. Tests of mediation converged in support of disgust proneness as a significant intervening variable between negative affect and OCD symptom severity. Subsequent analysis showed that the path from disgust proneness to OCD symptom severity in the structural model was significantly stronger among those without a primary diagnosis of OCD compared to those with a primary diagnosis of OCD.

LIMITATIONS: Given the cross-sectional design, the causal inferences that can be made are limited. The present study is also limited by the exclusive reliance on self-report measures.

CONCLUSIONS: Disgust proneness may play a uniquely important role in OCD among youth.