Examining the roles of fear and disgust in emetophobia

Emetophobia is a specific phobia of vomiting characterized by extreme avoidance of vomit-related stimuli. Literature on specific phobias has proposed that the emotion of disgust can play a role in some specific phobias, whereas fear and anxiety have long been considered the primary emotions involved. The present study examined the roles of fear and disgust in avoidance of a 30-minute video of increasingly intense audiovisual vomit-related stimuli. The roles of heart rate and willingness in avoidance were also examined. Emetophobia symptoms were assessed using the EmetQ-13 scale. Fear, disgust, willingness, and heart rate were assessed for each 5-minute timepoint of the video and at avoidance. Increased fear and disgust during the video impacted sooner avoidance, but only disgust was found to predict avoidance. More emetophobia symptoms were related to increased fear and disgust and earlier avoidance. Emetophobia symptoms were found to predict avoidance better than disgust sensitivity and disgust propensity. The roles of heart rate and willingness could not be established in the study’s data, which may be due to limitations with the materials used. The study fills a critical gap in knowledge on an ill-researched phobia.

Author dc:creator

• Snæþór Bjarki Jónsson 2000-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn í Reykjavík

• Sálfræði
• Fælni
• Kvíði
• Psychology
• Emetophobia
• Phobias
• Anxiety

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1946/42325

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/42325