Disgust, Contagion Beliefs, and Contamination-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Hospital and Non-Hospital Workers

AI Summary

Medical hospital workers showed lower trait disgust than other groups, partially supporting the hypothesis that medical training reduces disgust.
Hospital workers reported the highest contagion beliefs yet exhibited significantly lower contamination concerns than psychology students.
Contagion beliefs correlated with contamination OCD symptoms in all groups except medical hospital workers, indicating contextual factors may buffer maladaptive associations.

TL;DR (AI Generated)

Beyond elevated trait disgust, individuals with C-OCD often endorse strong beliefs about the spread of contamination through contact (contagion beliefs).

Methods: To examine whether hospital work and medical training may confer resilience relevant to C-OCD, disgust and contagion beliefs (confirmatory outcomes), as well as OCD symptoms and situation-specific contamination concerns (exploratory outcomes), were assessed using self-report questionnaires in an online cross-sectional study.

Results: We hypothesized that medical HWs would report the lowest levels of disgust and contagion beliefs, followed by medical students, non-medical HWs, and psychology students.

Basic summary

J Clin Med. 2026 Oct 30;15(21):8452. doi: 10.3390/jcm15218452.

ABSTRACT

Background: Recent research highlights the role of disgust in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly contamination-related OCD (C-OCD). Beyond elevated trait disgust, individuals with C-OCD often endorse strong beliefs about the spread of contamination through contact (contagion beliefs). Hospital workers (HWs) operate in environments where contamination is part of daily life and must manage genuine infection risks and their own disgust responses. Methods: To examine whether hospital work and medical training may confer resilience relevant to C-OCD, disgust and contagion beliefs (confirmatory outcomes), as well as OCD symptoms and situation-specific contamination concerns (exploratory outcomes), were assessed using self-report questionnaires in an online cross-sectional study. Participants included psychology students (N = 52), medical students (N = 69), non-medical HWs (N = 44), and medical HWs (N = 111). Results: We hypothesized that medical HWs would report the lowest levels of disgust and contagion beliefs, followed by medical students, non-medical HWs, and psychology students. This hypothesis was partially supported for trait disgust only. Contrary to expectations, HWs, regardless of medical background, reported the highest levels of contagion beliefs. Despite these elevated beliefs, HWs reported significantly lower contamination concerns than psychology students. Moreover, contagion beliefs were not associated with C-OCD symptoms among medical HWs, whereas this association was present in all other groups. Conclusions: Contagion beliefs may not be associated with C-OCD symptoms in the same way across contexts, particularly among individuals who regularly manage genuine contamination threats. Future research should investigate which factors may buffer HWs against the typically maladaptive association between contagion beliefs and C-OCD symptoms.

PMID:43030596 | DOI:10.3390/jcm15218452

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