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The following is a summary of “German version of the specific phobia of vomiting inventory (SPOVI): psychometric properties and correlates in a clinical and non-clinical sample,” published in the March 2025 issue of BMC Psychiatry by Hennemann et al. 

Specific phobia of vomiting inventory (SPOVI) is a 14-item tool assessing avoidance and threat monitoring in emetophobia.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to translate the SPOVI into German and assess its psychometric properties and correlates.  

They analyzed 441 adults and 465 outpatients using SPOVI and self-report measures. They assessed factor structure, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and clinical utility. 

The results showed that the German SPOVI had a one-factor structure and high internal consistency (ωs > 0.90). Large correlations (rs > 0.50) with phobic anxiety, general anxiety, illness-related anxiety, and disgust sensitivity supported convergent validity, while low correlations with depression, eating disorders, and paranoid ideation supported discriminant validity. Outpatients with specific phobias had the highest SPOVI scores. 

Investigators found that the German SPOVI had strong psychometric properties and was a useful clinical screening tool for emetophobia. 

Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-025-06744-0