The Italian version of the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Self-Disgust

Anne Schienle, Albert Wabnegger, Annalisa La Face

Abstract


Objectives: While disgust directed at potential disease elicitors constitutes an adaptive mechanism for health protection, disgust directed against the own person is dysfunctional, particularly when it becomes an enduring cognitive-affective orientation toward the self. Self-disgust is associated with several mental disorders, such as depression, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Therefore, the assessment of this construct in the clinical context is very important. Since a Questionnaire for the Assessment of Self-Disgust (QASD) in Italian did not exist, such a scale was developed.


Methods: A total of 1053 individuals (mean age = 32 years; 76% female) participated in an online survey. They completed questionnaires for the assessment of self-disgust (the translated version of the German QASD, Schienle, Ille, & Arendasy, 2014), psychological problems, and overall mental well-being. An exploratory factor analysis (principal axis estimation with oblique (oblimin) rotation; n = 526) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 527) were computed. Moreover, correlation analyses were carried out to assess the relationship between self-disgust and different indicators of mental wellbeing and psychological disorders.


Results: The QASD has a single factor structure. The questionnaire assesses disgust directed against the own body, personality, and behavior with 12 items. The QASD has very good reliability (McDonald´s omega = .92). The mean self-disgust scores correlated positively with reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatization, and body image concerns, and negatively with overall mental wellbeing.


Conclusion: The results point to the association between elevated self-disgust and psychological problems. Therefore, the scale should now be administered in clinical samples.

Keywords


Self-disgust; Questionnaire; Depression; Anxiety; Somatization; Body image concerns.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.13129/2282-1619/mjcp-3227

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