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Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: Autonomic habituation to auditory stimuli
Author(s) -
Rothbaum Barbara Olasov,
Kozak Michael J.,
Foa Edna B.,
Whitaker Daniel J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1023/a:1011160800958
Subject(s) - habituation , psychology , audiology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , orienting response , auditory stimuli , poison control , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , neuroscience , medical emergency , paleontology , perception , biology
Impaired capacity for physiological habituation may contribute to the persistence of PTSD. Habituation ofautonomic responses to auditory tones was examined in 43 women in three groups: 14 adult female rape survivors with chronic PTSD, 11 without PTSD, and a comparison group of 18 who had not been raped. There were no significant differences among the groups in baseline cardiac or electrodermal activity. The PTSD group showed significantly slower electrodermal habituation, as measured by trials to extinction and percentage of nonhabituators, than did the comparison groups. The present study found slower habituation of electrodermal responses for PTSD rape victims to neutral stimuli than for non‐PTSD victims and nonvictims.