Wu Monica S, Rudy Brittany M, Arnold Elysse B, Storch Eric A
Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
Department of Psychology, University of South Florida
J Cogn Psychother. 2015;29(4):356-368. doi: 10.1891/0889-8391.29.4.356. Epub 2015 Jan 1.
Emetophobia, or a specific phobia of vomiting, is an underresearched disorder characterized by extensive avoidance and safety-seeking behaviors. Extant literature has primarily focused on online support groups and qualitative investigations, thereby limiting the generalizability of results. As such, this study sought to examine the clinical correlates, phenomenology, and impairment related to emetophobia in 436 undergraduate students. About 5% of the sample exhibited significant emetophobia symptoms ( = 21), with all participants in this subsample reporting an age of onset prior to adulthood. In addition, participants' most distressing aspects of emetophobia were reported to be the somatic sensations of vomiting and the social impact of the disorder. For the entire sample ( = 436), emetophobia symptoms were associated with heightened anxiety, somatization, and depressive symptoms. In addition, functional impairment was observed across home/family, school/work, and social domains of life, even after controlling for the effects of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Detailed results and implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions for future studies are presented.
恐吐症，即对呕吐的特定恐惧症，是一种研究不足的疾病，其特征是广泛的回避行为和寻求安全行为。现有文献主要集中在在线支持小组和定性调查上，从而限制了研究结果的普遍性。因此，本研究旨在调查436名本科生中与恐吐症相关的临床关联、现象学及损害情况。约5%的样本表现出明显的恐吐症症状（n = 21），该子样本中的所有参与者报告发病年龄在成年之前。此外，参与者报告称，恐吐症最令人苦恼的方面是呕吐的躯体感觉以及该疾病的社会影响。对于整个样本（n = 436），恐吐症症状与焦虑、躯体化和抑郁症状加剧有关。此外，即使在控制了焦虑和抑郁症状的影响之后，在家庭/家人、学校/工作和社交生活领域均观察到了功能损害。本文讨论了详细的研究结果及发现的意义，并提出了对未来研究的建议。
