Does a brief state mindfulness induction moderate disgust-driven social avoidance and decision-making? An experimental investigation

J Behav Med (2015) 38:98109 DOI 10.1007/s10865-014-9582-5

Does a brief state mindfulness induction moderate disgust-driven social avoidance and decision-making? An experimental investigation

Lisa M. Reynolds Yee Sing Lin

Eric Zhou Nathan S. Consedine

Received: February 16, 2014 / Accepted: June 19, 2014 / Published online: June 28, 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Abstract In this experimental study, we evaluated whether manipulated disgust and mindfulness predicted social avoidance in bowel health contexts. Community participants (n = 101) were randomised to conditions in which disgust and/or state mindfulness were experimentally induced. Tasks assessing social avoidance and perceptions of available social networks in the context of bowel/health problems were conducted. Manipulation checks conrmed the elicitation of disgust and state mindfulness in the applicable conditions. As expected, persons in the disgust condition were more likely to exhibit immediate social avoidance (rejecting a glass of water). State disgust predicted greater socially avoidant decision-making, less decisional conict, and smaller social network maps. State mindfulness predicted fewer names on inner network circles and amplied the effect of disgust on creating smaller social network maps. This report furthers understanding of disgust and avoidance in bowel health contexts, and suggests the need for caution in mindfulness interventions that raise awareness of emotion without also providing skills in emotional regulation.

Keywords Disgust Avoidance Emotion Decision-

making Mindfulness Bowel health

Introduction

Bowel health problems can take a social toll. Exposure to feces, unpleasant odors, and aspects of anal anatomy and

function, are awkward areas of social interaction and conversation and have the potential to negatively impact on relationships. Paradoxically, however, these very social relationships are central to a patients ability to withstand the demands associated with physical health challenges social support improves the morbidity and perhaps even mortality effects of disease (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010). Withdrawal from friends, family, and colleagues during bowel health issues is common, and can include restriction of activities, problems with intimacy, and avoidance of communication (Drossman et al., 2009; Porter et al., 2005), with the latter associated with poorer relationship functioning, greater psychological distress (Porter et al., 2005), and the exacerbation of bowel symptoms (Bevan, 2009). Despite the established detriment of social avoidance in the context of bowel problems, there has been scant research on why avoidance occurs...