I Got it. Perceived Infectability and Germ Aversion after Covid-19 Infection.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a unique opportunity to test evolutionary hypotheses on the functionality of the behavioral immune system. The aim of the present study was to ascertain if a previous infection with COVID-19 was associated with increased levels of perceived infectability and germ aversion. Based on the calibration hypothesis, we predicted that the activation of the behavioral immune system was greater in those participants who had been infected compared to those who reported no previous COVID-19 infection. Method: The sample included 2072 participants who completed an online survey between March 1 and April 10, 2022 when the Italian population was facing the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. To measure the activation of the behavioral immune system, we used the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD) scale. Results: Perceived infectability was significantly greater in those participants who had been infected compared to those who reported no previous COVID-19 infection but there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of germ aversion.Conclusions Overall, our findings suggest that individual differences in the activation of the behavioral immune system were marginally affected by a personal history of COVID-19 infection. A possible explanation is that the environmental sensitivity of the behavioral immune system is tuned more on chronic disease threat (i.e., ecologies with higher pathogen load) than on situational disease threat (e.g., a pandemic or disease outbreak like the COVID-19 pandemic).

The behavioral immune system in action: Psychological correlates of pathogen disgust sensitivity in healthcare professionals working in a COVID-19 hospital.

The behavioral immune system includes a set of proactive mechanisms that inhibit contact with pathogens in the first place. These mechanisms offer a sort of psychological and behavioral prophylaxis against infection. The aim of this study was to assess the functionality of the behavioral immune system under conditions of strong ecological validity. Our hypothesis was that the emotional and more primitive component of the behavioral immune system (i.e. pathogen disgust sensitivity) acts as a powerful predictor of fear of infection. The sample was made up of 101 healthcare professionals working in a COVID-19 hospital when vaccination was not yet available. We conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to assess the role of germ-related disgust in modulating levels of fear. After controlling for the significant effects of depressive symptoms and exposure to people with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, we found that fear of infection was more intense in those healthcare workers who reported higher levels of germ-related disgust. Fear of infection was not related to perceived infectability, an individual variable informed by more rational cognitive appraisals. These findings show that, even in healthcare workers who can take advantage of their professional knowledge and acquired skills for rational appraisals, the most primitive component of the behavioral immune system still plays a major role in eliciting fear of COVID-19. It is likely that the psychological reactions elicited by the behavioral immune system promote preventive health behaviors in modern environments as well.

Fear of COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers: The Role of Neuroticism and Fearful Attachment.

Fear of becoming infected is an important factor of the complex suite of emotional reactions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among healthcare workers (HWs), fear of infection can put at risk their psychological well-being and occupational efficiency. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of personality (i.e., the big five traits) and adult attachment in predicting levels of fear (as measured by the FCV-19S) in 101 HWs employed in a COVID-19 university hospital. The three significant predictors retained by the stepwise regression model were age (beta = 0.26, t = 2.89, p < 0.01), emotional stability (i.e., the inverse of neuroticism) (beta = -0.26, t = -2.89, p < 0.01), and fearful attachment (beta = 0.25, t = 2.75, p < 0.01). Older HWs with higher levels of neuroticism and fearful attachment reported more intense fear of COVID-19. Our results can be useful to identify vulnerable subgroups of HWs and to implement selective programs of prevention based on counseling and psychological support.

Depressive symptoms and insecure attachment predict disability and quality of life in psoriasis independently from disease severity.

Psoriasis is a multisystemic inflammatory disease with a significant burden in terms of disability and reduced quality of life. The interrelations between disease severity, psychological well-being, and disability and/or health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of psoriatic patients are not fully understood. The aim of the study was to assess the relative role of disease severity, depressive symptoms, and insecure attachment in predicting disability and HRQOL in 105 patients with psoriasis. Objective measures of disease severity included the Body Surface Area (BSA), the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), and the Pain Visual Analog Scale (pain-VAS). The Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Multivariate hierarchical regression analysis showed that a preoccupied style of attachment and the presence of depressive symptoms were predictors of disability and HRQOL over and above the contribution of demographic and clinical variables. The inclusion of attachment and depression into multivariate regression models improved substantially the prediction of disability and HRQOL. Conversely, the predictive utility of objective indicators of disease severity was scarce and only the pain-VAS emerged as a significant predictor of disability whereas there were no significant correlations between HRQOL and any of the objective indicators of disease severity. Measures capturing patients' perspectives of the functional impact of disease should be routinely included in the clinical assessment of psoriasis.

Body dissatisfaction in women with eating disorders: relationship to early separation anxiety and insecure attachment.

OBJECTIVE: It has been suggested that an insecure style of attachment may be one of the factors implicated in the etiology of body dissatisfaction, which, in turn, is a risk factor for eating disorders. The present study analyzed the association among early separation anxiety, insecure attachment, and body dissatisfaction in a clinical sample of 96 women with anorexia nervosa (n = 31) or bulimia nervosa (n = 65). METHODS: Body dissatisfaction was measured using the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), early separation anxiety was measured using the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI), and adult attachment style was measured using the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). RESULTS: In both anorectic and bulimic women, BSQ scores were strongly correlated with SASI and ASQ scores. In a hierarchical regression model controlling for the confounding effects of body mass index and depressive symptoms, early separation anxiety and preoccupied attachment emerged as significant predictors of high levels of body dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the cross-sectional findings of this study, insecure attachment appears to be a consistent correlate of negative body image evaluations in women with either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. If future prospective studies will confirm that an insecure style of attachment plays a role in promoting the development of body dissatisfaction, prevention and treatment of disordered eating pathology might be enhanced by focusing greater attention on attachment relationships.