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Anxiety Regarding Contracting COVID-19 Related to Interoceptive Anxiety Sensations: The Moderating Role of Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity

Authored By: McKay, D., Yang, H., Elhai, J., & Asmundson, G. J. G.

People are generally motivated to avoid sources of illness to protect themselves, especially during pandemics. This motivation is thought to drive the process by which people identify possible signs of illness and enable reactions that may lower risk of, or prevent, infection. Certain psychological characteristics may influence this process and, consequently, impact reactions to the threat of being infected with COVID-19. Psychological characteristics that are known to influence how people interpret and respond to information regarding their body, health, or potential disease risk are increasingly relevant.

People with higher anxiety sensitivity specific to physical concerns (i.e., fear of bodily sensations associated with anxiety) may tend to be more sensitive and fearful towards bodily sensations in general and more likely to interpret these sensations as harmful (e.g., fearing their cough is a sign of being infected with COVID-19). Similarly, people who tend to feel disgust and react intensely to experiences of disgust may have exaggerated emotional reactions, such as fear, to situations that appear to pose increased risk of infection with COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction between anxiety sensitivity related to physical concerns and feelings of disgust on fear of being infected with COVID-19.

A total of 908 Chinese adults participated in a survey with questions assessing anxiety sensitivity specific to physical concerns, feelings of disgust, and fear of being infected with COVID-19. Results suggest that people with higher levels of both anxiety sensitivity specific to physical concerns and feelings of disgust are more likely to fear being infected with COVID-19. Further, feelings of disgust strengthened the relationship of anxiety sensitivity specific to physical concerns and fear of being infected with COVID-19.

Public health measures for managing fear of contracting COVID-19 should target education towards people with heightened anxiety sensitivity specific to physical concerns. When developing treatments for people who are fearful of being infected with COVID-19, consideration of feelings of disgust is necessary, specifically as they relate to how we interpret and respond to physical symptoms.

Lay summary written by Geoffrey Rachor. Edited by Michelle Paluszek.

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