INTRODUCTION: Considered a part of the behavioral immune system (BIS), disgust sensitivity is expected to be adjusting as a response to the actual level of the environmental health risks. METHODS: In this preregistered study, we tested the hypothesis that disgust sensitivity would be higher during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period in pregnant women. In this between-subject study with a longitudinal trend design, we administered the Disgust Scale-Revised to 200 pregnant women before the pandemic and to 350 pregnant women during the pandemic. RESULTS: We found a small but significant effect of the pandemic on disgust sensitivity, such that higher disgust sensitivity was found in women pregnant during the pandemic. This effect was stronger in primiparae, however, the interaction between parity and the pandemic period was not significant. Disgust sensitivity decreased with age. No differences in terms of nausea and vomiting were found between the women pregnant before and during the pandemic. DISCUSSION: Our findings indicate that although BIS is presumed to function as a complex mechanism to prevent health-threatening behaviors, its activation in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic is rather weak.

• Klíčová slova
• COVID-19 pandemic, age, behavioral immune system, compensatory prophylaxis hypothesis, disgust, nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, pregnancy,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Elevated levels of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) and disgust sensitivity have been observed in the first trimester and both are thought to have a protective function for the mother and her fetus. Their aetiology is not clear, however, with previous studies attributing elevated NVP and disgust to various factors including endocrine changes, immunological changes, and psychological variables. To date, no study has directly assessed the relationship between disgust and NVP. Here, we prospectively collected two independent samples (S1 and S2; n1 = 201, n2 = 391) of women in the first trimester of pregnancy, who completed the Index of Nausea, Vomiting, and Retching and the Disgust Scale-Revised. We also measured free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) in maternal serum. Our results did not confirm any association between NVP and disgust; in addition, they indicate that NVP and disgust may have different proximate causes. Disgust sensitivity was significantly negatively correlated with free β-hCG and (only in S1) with PAPP-A. In contrast, NVP was significantly positively associated with free β-hCG levels and (only in S1) with PAPP-A. While low hCG levels seem to be an important indicator for activation of the behavioral immune system in the first trimester, increased hCG levels play a role in stronger symptoms of NVP, a result consistent with previous studies. Levels of PAPP-A are likely part of a larger network of immunological and endocrine responses and do not appear to provide sufficient information for predicting women's NVP and disgust sensitivity.

• Klíčová slova
• Anxiety, Compensatory prophylaxis hypothesis, Disgust, Free β-hCG, NVP, PAPP-A, Parity, Rhodes index,
• MeSH
• biologické markery MeSH
• komplikace těhotenství * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lidský choriogonadotropin, beta podjednotka MeSH
• nauzea etiologie   MeSH
• odpor * MeSH
• první trimestr těhotenství MeSH
• těhotenský plazmatický protein A metabolismus   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zvracení etiologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biologické markery MeSH
• lidský choriogonadotropin, beta podjednotka MeSH
• PAPPA protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• těhotenský plazmatický protein A MeSH

Disgust is an essential part of the behavioral immune system, protecting the individual from infection. According to the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis (CPH), disgust sensitivity increases in times of immunosuppression, potentially including pregnancy. We aimed to replicate a previous study observing longitudinal changes in disgust sensitivity in pregnant women. Additionally, for the first time, we explored how recent health problems influence these changes. To do this, we obtained disgust sensitivity measures from 94 women in each trimester and in early postpartum. In contrast to the original study, where disgust sensitivity was highest in the first trimester, we found that overall and animal reminder disgust increased across pregnancy and after birth. In line with the CPH, women who were recently sick in the first trimester had elevated disgust sensitivity at that time. Although disgust sensitivity was significantly higher in the second trimester and postpartum period compared to the first trimester in mothers pregnant with a male fetus, the overall results regarding the effect of fetus sex on disgust sensitivity were mixed. It seems that changing levels of disgust sensitivity during pregnancy and postpartum result from a suite of physiological and psychological changes that occur during this sensitive period of a woman's life.

• MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• odpor * MeSH
• poporodní období MeSH
• porod MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• těhotné ženy psychologie   MeSH
• trimestry těhotenství MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH