Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index
Disgust is an emotion that drives food avoidance. People vary in their responses to disgust, which is captured by their disgust sensitivity. Disgust sensitivity is clinically significant because it can influence eating behaviors, and indirectly people’s body mass index (BMI). Inhibitory control can...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-10-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02391/full |
id |
doaj-09c0d848c5834b4498a4c3647845dddf |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-09c0d848c5834b4498a4c3647845dddf2020-11-24T21:58:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-10-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02391489663Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass IndexXing Liu0Ji Li1Ofir Turel2Rui Chen3Qinghua He4Qinghua He5Qinghua He6Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaInformation Systems and Decision Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, CA, United StatesFaculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaChongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaDisgust is an emotion that drives food avoidance. People vary in their responses to disgust, which is captured by their disgust sensitivity. Disgust sensitivity is clinically significant because it can influence eating behaviors, and indirectly people’s body mass index (BMI). Inhibitory control can also influence BMI through the role that such reflective abilities play in governing food intake. In this study, we relied on neural models of disgust to suggest that disgust and inhibitory control are intertwined, and that inhibitory control facilitates the translation of disgust sensitivity into BMI. Mediation analyses applied to 46 subjects, including 29 normal body weight [BMI = 18.34 kg/m2 (SD = 1.58)] and 17 overweight/obese [BMI = 26.03 kg/m2 (SD = 2.58)] subjects, were used to test the hypothesis. Subjects completed the Chinese version of the Disgust Scale-Revised, and an inhibition control test (Food-Specific Stop-Signal Task). There were negative correlations between the disgust sensitivity score (DS) and body mass index (BMI), and between DS and stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). Moreover, BMI was positively correlated with SSRT. The mediation model results showed that disgust sensitivity was associated with BMI and that this relationship was mediated via inhibition control. There was no significant effect of DS on BMI, while the effect of SSRT on BMI was significant. This suggested that the effect of disgust sensitivity on BMI was fully mediated through food-specific inhibitory control. This supports our hypothesis that BMI is affected by disgust sensitivity and that this relationship is mediated by inhibition control. These findings reveal a key mechanism that underlies disgust sensitivity-BMI association and point to future research and potential interventions aimed at food intake management.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02391/fulldisgust sensitivitybody mass indexobesityinhibition controlmediation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Xing Liu Ji Li Ofir Turel Rui Chen Qinghua He Qinghua He Qinghua He |
spellingShingle |
Xing Liu Ji Li Ofir Turel Rui Chen Qinghua He Qinghua He Qinghua He Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index Frontiers in Psychology disgust sensitivity body mass index obesity inhibition control mediation |
author_facet |
Xing Liu Ji Li Ofir Turel Rui Chen Qinghua He Qinghua He Qinghua He |
author_sort |
Xing Liu |
title |
Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index |
title_short |
Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index |
title_full |
Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index |
title_fullStr |
Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index |
title_full_unstemmed |
Food-Specific Inhibitory Control Mediates the Effect of Disgust Sensitivity on Body Mass Index |
title_sort |
food-specific inhibitory control mediates the effect of disgust sensitivity on body mass index |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2019-10-01 |
description |
Disgust is an emotion that drives food avoidance. People vary in their responses to disgust, which is captured by their disgust sensitivity. Disgust sensitivity is clinically significant because it can influence eating behaviors, and indirectly people’s body mass index (BMI). Inhibitory control can also influence BMI through the role that such reflective abilities play in governing food intake. In this study, we relied on neural models of disgust to suggest that disgust and inhibitory control are intertwined, and that inhibitory control facilitates the translation of disgust sensitivity into BMI. Mediation analyses applied to 46 subjects, including 29 normal body weight [BMI = 18.34 kg/m2 (SD = 1.58)] and 17 overweight/obese [BMI = 26.03 kg/m2 (SD = 2.58)] subjects, were used to test the hypothesis. Subjects completed the Chinese version of the Disgust Scale-Revised, and an inhibition control test (Food-Specific Stop-Signal Task). There were negative correlations between the disgust sensitivity score (DS) and body mass index (BMI), and between DS and stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). Moreover, BMI was positively correlated with SSRT. The mediation model results showed that disgust sensitivity was associated with BMI and that this relationship was mediated via inhibition control. There was no significant effect of DS on BMI, while the effect of SSRT on BMI was significant. This suggested that the effect of disgust sensitivity on BMI was fully mediated through food-specific inhibitory control. This supports our hypothesis that BMI is affected by disgust sensitivity and that this relationship is mediated by inhibition control. These findings reveal a key mechanism that underlies disgust sensitivity-BMI association and point to future research and potential interventions aimed at food intake management. |
topic |
disgust sensitivity body mass index obesity inhibition control mediation |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02391/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT xingliu foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex AT jili foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex AT ofirturel foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex AT ruichen foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex AT qinghuahe foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex AT qinghuahe foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex AT qinghuahe foodspecificinhibitorycontrolmediatestheeffectofdisgustsensitivityonbodymassindex |
_version_ |
1725851203435233280 |