Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: autonomic habituation to auditory stimuli.
Impaired capacity for physiological habituation may contribute to the persistence of PTSD. Habituation of autonomic 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.
Rothbaum
B O
BO
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 1365 Clifton Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. brothba@emory.edu
Kozak
M J
MJ
Foa
E B
EB
Whitaker
D J
DJ
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors