THE ROLE OF DISGUST AND FEAR IN BLOOD AND INJECTION-RELATED FAINTING SYMPTOMS - A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL

Structural equation models were used to examine the relationship of bl ood, injection, and injury (BII) fears, disgust sensitivity, and trait anxiety to having experienced fainting-related symptoms in 722 univer sity students. The latent variable representing BII fears was highly p ositively related to faint symptoms whereas that relating to disgust e xperiences was inversely related to fainting. A second disgust sensiti vity variable was not directly related to fainting. Trait anxiety adde d nothing directly to the model, although it was related to BII latent variable. Additional analyses included a gender-related cross-validat ion which showed that models developed on one gender group did not fit well when applied to the other gender group. Blood drawings were the most common faint eliciting situations and were found to be reportedly more likely to elicit faint symptoms than were injections. (C) 1997 E lsevier Science Ltd.