Wounds that won't wash away: Disgust and trauma-related contamination in military veterans seeking treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder.

Disgust in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been relatively underexamined compared to other emotions, although it may be relevant to war-related PTSD given potential exposure to both physical contaminants and moral violations. The present study examined the prevalence of disgust, mental contamination, and compulsive behaviors among veterans seeking PTSD treatment. Participants were 289 military veterans (79.2% male; M_age = 43.82, SD = 13.61) referred for treatment at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD specialty clinic. Veterans completed measures of PTSD symptoms; trauma-related disgust toward others and themselves; feelings of dirtiness in response to thoughts, images, or memories of the trauma (i.e., trauma-cued mental contamination); compulsive behaviors; and time spent washing, cleaning, and/or avoiding feeling dirty. Combat was the most common index trauma (69.9%). Nearly three quarters (74.0%) of veterans endorsed at least moderate disgust toward others, and 61.2% endorsed at least moderate disgust toward oneself; about half (54.4%) endorsed at least moderate mental contamination, and 45.0% endorsed washing, cleaning, and/or avoiding feeling dirty at least 1 hr per day. Disgust toward others, disgust toward oneself, and mental contamination were significantly correlated with PTSD symptoms, rs = .41-.57, ps < .001. Multiple regression analysis indicated that all three predictors were associated with PTSD symptoms, F(3, 274) = 79.68, p < .001, R² = .47, with disgust toward oneself the strongest predictor, β = .30, p < .001. The present study suggests a notable prevalence of disgust, contamination, and time spent avoiding feeling dirty among veterans seeking PTSD treatment.