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Autonomic functioning in mothers with interpersonal violence‐related posttraumatic stress disorder in response to separation–reunion
Author(s) -
Schechter Daniel S.,
Moser Dominik A.,
McCaw Jaime E.,
Myers Michael M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21144
Subject(s) - hypervigilance , psychology , separation (statistics) , heart rate variability , heart rate , posttraumatic stress , autonomic nervous system , fight or flight response , interpersonal communication , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , audiology , medicine , psychiatry , anxiety , chemistry , social psychology , biochemistry , machine learning , computer science , blood pressure , gene
ABSTRACT This study characterizes autonomic nervous system activity reactive to separation–reunion among mothers with Interpersonal Violence‐Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (IPV‐PTSD). Heart‐rate (HR) and high frequency heart‐rate‐variability (HF‐HRV) were measured in 17 IPV‐PTSD‐mothers, 22 sub‐threshold‐mothers, and 15 non‐PTSD mother‐controls while interacting with their toddlers (12–48 months). Analyses showed IPV‐PTSD‐mothers having generally lower HR than other groups. All groups showed negative correlations between changes in HR and HF‐HRV from sitting‐ to standing‐baseline. During initial separation, controls no longer showed a negative relationship between HR and HF‐HRV. But by the second reunion, the negative relationship reappeared. IPV‐PTSD‐ and sub‐threshold‐mothers retained negative HR/HF‐HRV correlations during the initial separation, but stopped showing them by the second reunion. Results support that mother‐controls showed a pattern of autonomic regulation suggestive of hypervigilance during initial separation that resolved by the time of re‐exposure. PTSD‐mothers showed delayed onset of this pattern only upon re‐exposure, and were perhaps exhibiting defensive avoidance or numbing during the initial separation/reunion. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc . Dev Psychobiol 56: 748–760, 2014.