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Disgust sensitivity, blood–injection–injury fear, and dental anxiety
Author(s) -
Merckelbach Harald,
Muris Peter,
de Jong Peter J.,
de Jongh Ad
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0879(199910)6:4<279::aid-cpp210>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - disgust , psychology , anxiety sensitivity , anxiety , fainting , clinical psychology , correlation , developmental psychology , psychiatry , anger , geometry , mathematics
The present studies evaluated whether high disgust sensitivity is associated with high levels of blood–injection–injury (BII) fear. The first study found no evidence for a connection between disgust sensitivity and BII fear in a sample of undergraduate students ( N =166). In contrast, the second study did find a significant correlation between disgust sensitivity and BII fear in a mixed sample of dental anxious patients and undergraduate students ( N =96), but the magnitude of this correlation was rather modest. The third study relied on a sample of patients with clinical dental phobia ( N =36). Although these patients displayed heightened disgust sensitivity scores, no significant associations were found between disgust sensitivity and BII fear or fainting. Taken together, the present data indicate that disgust sensitivity plays only a minor role in BII‐related fears such as dental anxiety. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.