Disgust sensitivity, blood–injection–injury fear, and dental anxiety

✍ Scribed by Harald Merckelbach; Peter Muris; Peter J. de Jong; Ad de Jongh

• Book ID: 101278031
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 88 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1063-3995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0879(199910)6:4<279::aid-cpp210>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

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.