Network analysis of disgust proneness symptoms in 434 adolescents enrolled in a residential treatment program for severe OCD, anxiety, and mood disorders, examining which disgust symptoms were most central and whether they predicted OCD and mood symptoms before and after treatment.
**Animal-reminder disgust** (e.g., aversion to seeing blood in meat, reminders of human mortality and bodily vulnerability) was the most central symptom node in both pre- and post-treatment networks. These symptoms accounted for significant variance in OCD and general mood symptoms at both time points, though the two networks did not significantly differ from each other (no network invariance).
- Single residential treatment setting limits generalizability to outpatient or less severe OCD populations. - Pre- and post-treatment networks showed no significant difference, making it unclear whether treatment meaningfully altered disgust proneness structure. - Study is observational/correlational within a naturalistic treatment sample; no causal inferences can be drawn.
Animal-reminder disgust — aversion to cues that highlight human mortality and bodily vulnerability — appears to be a core feature of disgust proneness linked to OCD severity in adolescents. Clinicians treating adolescent OCD may consider specifically targeting animal-reminder disgust stimuli within exposure-based treatments.
