title: Psychophysiological and clinical implications of the coincidence of high hypnotic ability and high neuroticism during threat perception in somatization disorders.
abstract: The electrodermal response to cognitive threat of unhypnotized female patients with somatic symptoms and high on both hypnotic ability and neuroticism (H-H) was found to be significantly higher (p < .01) than that of a matched group of female patients moderate on hypnotic ability and low on neuroticism (M-L). On verbal report the H-H and the M-L groups did not differ, but they were significantly different on a measure of self-deception (L scale) or repression. The above findings are consistent with predictions from the High Risk Model of Threat Perception (HRMTP), which states that people in the H-H group are both chronically and acutely more reactive to threat than the people in the M-L group. This finding may have important theoretical, clinical, and financial implications for the diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of somatization disorders seen in primary medical care.
authors.affiliation: Psychophysiological Stress Disorders Research Laboratory, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk 23501-1980.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wickramasekera
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000150:complications; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*