Trait Anxiety and Trait Disgust in Spider Phobia

There is evidence for the role of trait anxiety in the specific phobias, and spider phobia in particular. Recently, trait disgust has received attention in relation to specific phobia and researchers and theorists have begun to address its contributions to phobia etiology, maintenance, and treatment processes. There is now strong evidence that a trait or dispositional proneness to experience disgust is related to spider phobia. What is perhaps more important is emerging evidence that both trait anxiety and trait disgust may contribute to spider phobia severity independently of one another. However, the overall picture is far from clear and distinguishing the role of anxiety from that of disgust in spider phobia is often quite difficult, perhaps in part due to the potential for synergistic effects between the two emotions. This chapter will review findings regarding the relationships among trait anxiety, trait disgust, and spider phobia, including cognitive and behavioral findings. The implications for theories of spider phobia etiology, maintenance, and treatment will be discussed

Considering Ethnicity and Gender Effects in Disgust Propensity and Spider and Snake Phobia: Comparing Asian Americans and European Americans

This study examined ethnic and gender differences and ethnicity by gender interactions in disgust propensity, spider and snake phobic distress, and their interrelationships. A main effect for ethnicity was found, with Asian Americans (n = 219) reporting more disgust propensity and phobic distress than European Americans (n = 581). Gender effects were modified by ethnicity by gender interactions, with European American males reporting the least disgust propensity and distress, and gender differences present only for European Americans. For both ethnic groups, phobic distress scores were strongly correlated with animal and non-animal disgust propensity. In hierarchical regression analyses, animal disgust propensity was uniquely related to spider and snake distress scores among both ethnic groups, although non-animal disgust propensity was only a significant individual predictor among European Americans. The results suggest that models of animal phobia and disgust propensity based on European American samples cannot be uniformly applied to Asian Americans. Ethnicity and gender, and their interaction, may influence the intensity of disgust propensity and animal phobic distress and their relationships with one another

A Gender Invariant Model of Disgust Propensity in Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia in Latina/o Individuals

Latinas/os have been underrepresented in research investigating the role of disgust propensity in phobias. The current study was the first to examine associations between disgust propensity and Blood-Injection-Injury (BII) phobia, when acculturation was controlled for, in Latina/o Americans (n = 376). A structural model was developed with a BII fear latent variable consisting of fears of injection, blood, and sharp objects (causing injuries). The disgust propensity latent variable was formed with three domains of core, animal reminder, and contamination disgust elicitors. In the model, disgust propensity predicted BII fear when controlling for acculturation. A series of measurement and structural invariance tests demonstrated that the model was invariant between males and females. The current findings supported the hypothesis that disgust plays a role in BII fear symptoms similarly in Latinas and Latinos. The findings are expected to improve our understanding of mechanisms and treatment approaches for BII phobia symptoms in this underserved cultural group

Latinos\u27 intergroup contact and prejudice in the United States

Despite being a large and fast-growing ethnic group in the United States, only a small amount of research has focused on intergroup attitudes and prejudice held by Latinos towards other groups. In the intergroup contact literature, the relative lack of research has resulted in a tendency to generalize the experiences of a subset of minority groups to minorities as a whole. The objective of this chapter is to review the existing literature on prejudice held by Latinos towards several groups and to review the role of intergroup contact in reducing prejudice held by Latinos toward outgroups. In particular, we review the literature on Latinos’ prejudice towards Black, Caucasian, and gay and lesbian people, respectively, and the role of intergroup contact in reducing (or potentially increasing) prejudice. We then discuss the role that machismo and ethnic identity may play in increasing or reducing prejudice through intergroup contact. Previous research has suggested that Latinos’ cultural values may play a role in the contact-prejudice relationship, with research demonstrating that machismo is associated with more prejudice towards gays and lesbians. The role of machismo in prejudice towards gays and lesbians is discussed along with the complex role that ethnic identity plays in prejudice held by Latinos towards outgroups. Potential areas of future research are identified

Factor Structure and Administration Measurement Invariance of the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale in Latino College Samples: Paper-Pencil Versus Internet Administrations.

The psychometric properties of the paper–pencil and online versions of the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (BTMI) were examined in two studies with Latina/o individuals. In Study 1, 316 Latina/o participants completed the BTMI in a paper–pencil mode. The original three-factor model was found to be a poor fit model for the sample. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified a four-factor model as the best fitting model for the sample. The identified factors were Dangerousness, Social Dysfunction, Incurability, and Embarrassment. In Study 2, the identified best fit model was tested with 280 Latina/o participants who completed the BTMI online. The four-factor model had adequate fit. A series of measurement invariance tests on the fit model supported equal factor loadings, but rejected equivalent intercepts across paper–pencil and online administration methods, though partially equivalent intercepts and residuals were found. Consequently, modality-specific norms are recommended, depending on whether paper–pencil or online venues are utilized for administration

Beliefs about Mental Illness in a Spanish Speaking Latinx American Sample

The US Hispanic population is large and rapidly growing, with serious healthcare disparities. Alarmingly, 67% of Hispanic adults with a mental illness go untreated. Attempts to increase treatment rates have had limited success, likely partly due to stigma beliefs. There is an urgent need to develop and utilize a Spanish language stigma assessment tool. The current study is the first to do so, translating the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness (BTMI; Hirai et al., 2018) scale into Spanish (S-BTMI). Our psychometric findings with English-Spanish bilingual Latinx undergraduate students suggest that the S-BTMI can be a reliable measure of mental illness stigma. The BTMI’s 4-factor solution was confirmed by the S-BTMI. Language invariance tests for the S-BTMI and BTMI demonstrated metric invariance and partial scalar invariance. The S-BTMI’s factors produced strong internal consistency and two-week test-retest reliability. A previous Latinx sample’s BTMI scores were similar to the current S-BTMI scores, except for greater endorsement of incurability beliefs for the Spanish version. Average stigma levels were fairly low in the current sample. Use of the BTMI-S can improve our understanding of stigma, and its relationships to language, culture, acculturation, and treatment-seeking in Latinx communities

A Longitudinal Investigation of the Efficacy of Online Expressive Writing Interventions for Hispanic Students Exposed to Traumatic Events: Competing Theories of Action

Objective: Although expressive writing (EW) appears efficacious for treating a range of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms including diagnosed PTSD, little is known about its efficacy when offered online and for ethnic/cultural minority populations such as Hispanic individuals. The current study examined the longitudinal effects of two online EW tasks for treating PTS symptoms in a Hispanic student sample. Design: Seventy-one participants who had experienced a traumatic event were randomly assigned to either an emotion-focused (EM) writing group or a fact-focused (FC) writing group and completed online writing sessions for three consecutive days. Participants completed online assessments at 1-week, 1-month, and 3-month follow-ups. The PTSD Checklist–DSM-5 version was used to assess PTS symptoms. Results: Both groups reported statistically significant reductions in severity of PTS symptoms at 1-week follow-up with the EM group demonstrating statistically significantly greater symptom reductions than the FC group. Differential longitudinal effects over the 3-month follow-up periods were found for some PTS domains, with the EM group showing superior improvements relative to the FC group. Conclusion: EW delivered online can be useful for Hispanic individuals with PTS symptoms following traumatic life events. Further, the current findings align with an inhibitory learning model for explaining EW’s mechanism of action

Machismo Predicts Prejudice toward Lesbian and Gay Individuals: Testing a Mediating Role of Contact

This study examined the relationship between traditional machismo and prejudice toward lesbian and gay individuals as mediated by contact in a Latino college sample. Gender was examined as a potential moderator. Undergraduate students from a public university in South Texas (128 males and 447 females; mean age = 22.1. SD = 4.75) completed online measures of prejudice toward lesbian and gay individuals, machismo, and contact experience with lesbian and gay individuals. Contact significantly mediated the relationship between machismo and anti-gay prejudice, yet this indirect effect was relatively small. Significant direct and indirect effects of machismo on prejudiced attitudes toward lesbian and gay individuals were found. Gender did not moderate the relationship between machismo and contact. Our findings suggest that efforts to reduce Latinos’ prejudice toward gay men and lesbian women should take cultural views toward gender roles into consideration. Increased positive contact experience with lesbian and gay individuals may be a possible avenue to decrease anti-gay prejudice that stems from heightened traditional machismo

Attentional bias towards threat in sexually victimized Hispanic women: A dot probe study

Objective: The current study examined attention bias toward threat in Hispanic college women exposed to lifetime sexual victimization in childhood, adulthood, and both childhood and adulthood. Response latencies and attention bias scores were compared between victimized and non-victimized individuals. Design: Participants were 20 women exposed to adulthood sexual victimization (AS group), 15 exposed to childhood sexual victimization (CS group), 8 exposed to both childhood and adulthood sexual assault (revictimization: RV group), and 20 not endorsing sexual victimization (NS group). They were asked to complete the dot-probe task. Results: The CS group and RV group were combined to create the CS-RV group. Among the AS and CS-RV groups, response latencies were faster when attention was engaged to threat than when attention was engaged to non-threat. The NS group did not demonstrate such differences. When response latencies were compared among the three groups, the CS-RV group had slower response latencies than the NS group. The CS-RV and AS groups revealed similarly significantly elevated bias scores towards threat words than the NS group. Conclusion: Hispanic college women exposed to lifetime sexual victimization display elevated levels of attention bias compared to non-victimized women. Further, the current findings align with an integrative cognitive model for explaining maladaptive informational processing in trauma victims

Patterns of childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence, emotion dysregulation, and mental health symptoms among lesbian, gay, and bisexual emerging adults: A three-step latent class approach

Background: Childhood abuse and neglect (CAN) and intimate partner violence victimization (IPV) is prevalent among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (LGB). Identification of distinct patterns of childhood and adult victimization, including technology-mediated and face-to-face IPV, and their cumulative relations to mental/behavioral health challenges, among LGB people is needed to facilitate identification of at-risk individuals. Objective: Using latent class analysis, we first sought to identify patterns of lifetime interpersonal victimization, primarily five types of CAN and IPV in LGB emerging adults. Second, we examined if LGB-status and race/ethnicity predicted classmembership; third, we assessed differences between the latent classes on emotion dysregulation, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and alcohol use. Participants: Participants were 288 LGB adults between 18-29 years (M = 25.35, SD = 2.76; 41.7% gay/lesbian) recruited via Amazon MTurk. Methods and Results: The 3-step LCA identified five-latent classes: high victimization, childhood emotional abuse and neglect, cybervictimization, adult face-to-face IPV, and lower victimization. People of color (including Hispanics) were more likely to be in the high victimization class, and bisexual individuals, especially bisexual women, in the childhood emotional abuse and neglect class. High victimization and childhood emotional abuse and neglect classes had elevated emotion dysregulation levels and depression and anxiety symptoms, and the high victimization class reported the highest levels of alcohol use. Conclusion: Findings suggest a detrimental effect of cumulative interpersonal victimization on emotion dysregulation and the mental/behavioral health of LGB emerging adults, with bisexuals and LGB-people of color at heightened risk of cumulative victimization and of related mental/behavioral health challenges