Specific fear of vomiting (SPOV) in early parenthood: assessment and treatment considerations with two illustrative cases

Journal article

Specific phobia of vomiting (SPOV) is a persistent, excessive fear of vomiting that is more prevalent in females, often begins in childhood and typically lasts 25 years before treatment is sought. It is a relatively neglected area of research, with most evidence consisting of single case studies. There are implications for the perinatal period, in particular the experience of pregnancy which for many involves symptoms of nausea and vomiting. However, there is a paucity of research on the experience of SPOV during pregnancy and currently no published treatment research. This study aimed to extend the existing literature by applying Veale’s (2009) protocol for SPOV to a pregnant client in her twenties. The intervention comprised 12 one-hour face-to-face sessions and was effective in significantly reducing anxiety (GAD-7 reduced from 7 to 0), depression (PHQ-9 reduced from 6 to 1), impaired functioning (WSAS reduced from 20 to 4) and vomiting phobia (SPOVI reduced from 40 to 0)

Authors: Orme, K; Challacombe, FL; Roxborough, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
• Volume: 15
• Pages: e12
• Article number: e12
• Publication date: 2022-03-10
• DOI: 10.1017/s1754470x22000101
• EISSN: 1754-470X
• ISSN: 1754-470X
• Language: English
• Keywords: Specific phobia; Psychology; Clinical psychology; Medicine; Developmental psychology; Anxiety; Exacerbation; Distressing; Vomiting; Cognition; Psychotherapist; Anxiety disorder; Psychiatry