| Sumario: | Recent findings indicate that parents, in the presence of disgust elicitors, exhibit exaggerated behavioral avoidance and direct expressions of disgust toward younger children. Here we examine whether other communication channels-vocalizations and gestures-are also used to entrain disgust. We also explore whether parents transmit hand hygiene practices in a similar manner. Children's disgust responses factored into two discrete components-expressive and felt disgust. Variance in child expressive disgust, when tested alone, was explained by a combination of parental facial and vocal disgust, moderated by child age. Children's felt disgust, when tested alone, was weakly related to parental self-reports of disgust. Hand hygiene transmission (HHT) was observed and directed toward younger children (2-3 years). Parents who demonstrated HHT also directed more disgust-related behaviors towards their child. The age-moderated effects here suggest parents selectively direct facial and vocal expression of disgust toward young children and this has detectable consequences on their disgust behavior.
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