Academic Journal
Generalized and social anxiety symptoms are differentially associated with common and social odor sensitivity.
| Τίτλος: | Generalized and social anxiety symptoms are differentially associated with common and social odor sensitivity. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Pieniak M; Smell & Taste Clinic, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany; Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Food, Flavour and Fragrance Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: michal.m.pieniak@gmail.com., Wylie F; Food, Flavour and Fragrance Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia., Bingham J; Food, Flavour and Fragrance Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia., Diiorio-Dedomeneghi T; Food, Flavour and Fragrance Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia., Wood J; Food, Flavour and Fragrance Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia., Mahmut MK; Food, Flavour and Fragrance Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. |
| Πηγή: | Biological psychology [Biol Psychol] 2026 Oct; Vol. 210, pp. 109383. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Sep 06. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science B.V Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0375566 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6246 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03010511 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Biol Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Amsterdam : Elsevier Science B.V Original Publication: Amsterdam, North-Holland. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Anxiety*/psychology , Anxiety*/physiopathology , Olfactory Perception*/physiology , Smell*/physiology , Odorants* , Phobia, Social*, Depression/psychology ; Sensory Thresholds/physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Generalized Anxiety Disorder ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Surveys and Questionnaires |
| Περίληψη: | Highly anxious individuals have a lower detection threshold to potentially harmful stimuli in their environment. Recent self-report studies suggest that sensitivity to olfactory stimuli may be dependent upon the type of anxiety and odors investigated. Improving on previous studies, the current study employed a psychophysical measure of olfactory ability to explore the relationship between olfactory sensitivity and anxiety. We hypothesized that anxiety symptoms will be linked to increased olfactory sensitivity, but also that this relationship will be different for anxiety subtypes and odor category. One hundred twenty-seven young healthy individuals (age 18-39, M=20.8, SD=3.5) completed questionnaires measuring symptoms of generalized anxiety (GAD-7), social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale), and depression (PHQ-9). To assess olfactory sensitivity, they performed eight odor concentrations sorting tasks with four common (e.g., food, floral) and four socially relevant odors (e.g., human body odor compound, perfume). Generalized anxiety symptoms were weakly positively correlated with sensitivity to common odors, but not to social odors. However, this association was rendered non-significant when depressive symptoms were controlled for. In contrast, social anxiety symptoms were positively correlated with sensitivity to social odors, but not to common odors. The latter relationship was partially mediated by perceived threat of social odors and was robust to models controlling for depressive symptoms. In conclusion, in a non-clinical sample of healthy individuals, anxiety symptoms are related to enhanced olfactory sensitivity in a domain-specific manner, with the evidence stronger for social anxiety. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Body odor; Generalized anxiety; Olfactory perception; Social anxiety; Threat |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260906 Date Completed: 20260919 Latest Revision: 20260919 |
| Update Code: | 20260920 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2026.109383 |
| PMID: | 42702278 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
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