Remotely-administered app-based pavlovian disgust conditioning in individuals with eating disorders: a proof-of-concept pilot study
Current Psychology, cilt.45, sa.15, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 45 Sayı: 15
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s12144-026-09853-5
- Dergi Adı: Current Psychology
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, BIOSIS, Psycinfo, Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Disgust learning, Eating disorders, Mobile application, Pavlovian disgust conditioning
- Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
A higher proneness to experiencing the emotion of disgust has been found in individuals with eating disorders (EDs). Differences in disgust-based aversive learning may contribute to this. This proof-of-concept study adapted an App-based paradigm originally designed to measure fear learning, to test disgust conditioning in individuals with EDs and healthy controls (HCs). The unconditioned stimulus (US) consisted of a vomit sound to elicit disgust. Two neutral shapes served as the conditioned stimuli (CS), with one (CS+) paired with the vomit sound and the other (CS-) unpaired. The application of rigorous data quality control procedures resulted in a final analytic sample of 59 participants (ED n = 42, HC n = 17), representing a ~ 52% exclusion rate. Excluded and retained participants did not differ significantly on most sociodemographic and clinical variables; however, some group-specific differences (i.e., gender) suggested that exclusion may not have been entirely random. Within the retained sample, successful disgust conditioning was demonstrated in both groups. Exploratory between-group comparisons indicated higher post-extinction disgust ratings for the CS + in the ED group compared with HCs; however, given the methodological constraints and underpowered HC sample, this finding should be interpreted with caution. This pilot study can be considered a starting point, providing a framework for future research to further refine the paradigm and test it within larger samples.