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The Development of Disgust and Its Relationship to Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning

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Abstract

Experiences of excessive disgust have been implicated in several psychopathologies. Research, however, has rarely examined disgust and its role in psychosocial functioning from a developmental standpoint. This study examines the relationship between disgust expression in early life and subsequent adolescent psychosocial functioning. Data from 165 children were collected as part of a longitudinal study. Disgust propensity in infancy and childhood was assessed using a facial expressivity task and food aversion task, respectively. Adolescent psychosocial functioning was measured through several self-report measures. Results suggest that there exists a degree of consistency in disgust expression within the first year of life, and that childhood disgust propensity may be related to impairment in early adolescent psychosocial functioning. These findings highlight the potential importance of identifying early disgust expression as a marker for later psychopathology.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant R01-DA07109).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Rachel E. Christensen

  2. Institute for the Study of Child Development, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Michael Lewis

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  1. Rachel E. Christensen
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Correspondence to Rachel E. Christensen.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Christensen, R.E., Lewis, M. The Development of Disgust and Its Relationship to Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 53, 1309–1318 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01208-4

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