Psychol Health Med. 2025 Oct 30:1-17. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2025.2581895. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Chronic skin conditions such as acne and Atopic Dermatitis (AD) can affect psychological wellbeing; however, not all individuals with these conditions develop depression or anxiety. Psychological adjustment appears to depend on an interplay of dispositional, cognitive, and affective factors, yet the role of self-disgust in this context remains underexplored, particularly in underrepresented populations from Latin America. This study examined psychosocial and affective predictors of depression and anxiety in a sample of Colombian young adults with acne or AD. Using a cross-sectional design, 220 participants (Mage = 21.89, SD = 3.55) completed online measures of optimism, perceived social support, Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), Body Image (BI), self-disgust, and anxiety and depression. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that higher optimism and more positive BI were associated with lower depression scores, while anxiety was primarily associated with greater FNE. Self-disgust significantly predicted both depression and anxiety. Mediation analyses further revealed that self-disgust mediated the relationships between BI and depression, and between FNE and anxiety. The final models explained 36% and 34% of the variance in depression and anxiety, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of affective and cognitive factors in the psychological adjustment to chronic skin conditions. Interventions targeting cognitive distortions and affect regulation, especially those addressing self-disgust, may help reduce psychological distress in this population. Future studies employing longitudinal designs are necessary to clarify the causal pathways.
PMID:41165003 | DOI:10.1080/13548506.2025.2581895
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