The associations between pathogen disgust sensitivity, meat liking, plant liking and a lifetime prevalence of anorexia nervosa among Finnish women

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a debilitating mental illness that often leads to expensive treatment costs and poor health outcomes. Previous studies have found that having AN is associated with a vegetarian diet and that anxiety plays a role in food avoidance behavior. There is also some evidence suggesting that disgust could play a role in the course of the disorder. More research is however needed to uncover how disgust relates to food preferences in AN individuals. The present novel study considered whether the compensatory prophylaxis hypothesis (CPH) could be a sound theoretical framework for understanding the potential associations between pathogen disgust sensitivity, an individual differences variable that captures dispositional motivations to pathogen-related stimuli, and meat and plant liking in AN individuals. According to the CPH, restricted meat intake may function to reduce pathogen risks when the individual is more susceptible to disease. However, a growing body of evidence has failed to find a relationship between vulnerability to disease and pathogen avoidance. The present study tested the hypothesis that AN relates to pathogen disgust sensitivity. To do so, we examined the associations between pathogen disgust sensitivity, meat liking, plant liking, and a lifetime prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN-LTP) in a sample of 4,098 Finnish women (402 in the AN-LTP group and 3,696 in the non-AN group). According to results, individuals in the AN-LTP group liked meats less than plants, and less than non-AN individuals. The AN-LTP group liked plants more than the non-AN group. However, the difference in meat and plant liking in AN-LTP vs non-AN individuals was not mediated by pathogen disgust sensitivity. Pathogen disgust sensitivity was associated with lower meat and plant liking in the sample as a whole. Our results did not provide support for the compensatory prophylaxis hypothesis, thus adding to the body of evidence that has failed to find a relationship between vulnerability to disease and pathogen avoidance.

Automated summary

Anorexia Nervosa is associated with a vegetarian diet and anxiety, and disgust may play a role in the disorder. However, more research is needed to understand the relationship between disgust and food preferences in individuals with AN.