The Role of Disgust and Fear in the Educational Environment: Theoretical Aspects and Proposal of a Computerized Intervention
The Role of Disgust and Fear in the Educational Environment: Theoretical Aspects and Proposal of a Computerized Intervention

Summary/Abstract: Disgust represents an important emotion in the maintenance of anxiety symptoms, especially in phobias, but it is disregarded in the assessment of symptoms, even if studies show that disgust could change their manifestation. So far, the main emotion studied in specific phobias is fear, which is almost always provoked, persistent, and accompanied by the avoidance of the phobic object. Children exposed to a frightening event are at risk to develop specific phobias. Once developed, it may be maintained by cognitive biases and can interfere with daily activities. In the light of these issues, the current research provides a summary of the relevant studies made on emotions in children and adolescents with anxiety symptoms and the main implications in educational environment. Relevant research made on both emotions emphasize that even if fear has a more essential role in anxiety disorders, disgust also has an impact on specific phobias reactions; these two emotions have different relative influence in phobias. The aim of this research is to propose a computerized intervention for managing emotions in adolescents. The intervention is based on virtual exposure to stimuli related to specific phobia described in DSM-5 (animals, injury, situational). It is a computerized version of exposure technique protocol and participants will be gradually exposed to those stimuli that increase the level of disgust and fear. Using this application for managing emotions, the intervention aims to increase adaptive behaviors that could be used by participants in phobic situations. Also, theoretical and practical implications in educational environment will be discussed.

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