Targets of Trauma-Related Disgust and Emotion Regulation Difficulties as Predictors of PTSD Symptoms and Mental Contamination Following Sexual Violence

Research investigating associations among targets of disgust, emotion regulation (ER) difficulties, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and mental contamination (MC) is limited. This study explored main and interactive effects of self-disgust, disgust with others, disgust with the world, and ER difficulties in predicting PTSD symptoms and MC among women with sexual violence histories (<i>N</i> = 90). Higher disgust with the world predicted more severe PTSD symptoms and disgust with others predicted more severe MC among those low in ER difficulties. Targets of disgust may be differentially associated with posttraumatic outcomes. Future research should investigate mechanisms linking targets of disgust to such outcomes.