title: The association between emotional upset and cardiac arrhythmia during daily life.
abstract: Ventricular arrhythmia exhibits considerable within-subject variability that cannot be attributed to clinical status alone. This investigation examined the extent to which cardiac arrhythmia was associated with psychological and physical factors assessed during the hour preceding arrhythmic or nonarrhythmic activity. Approximately twice hourly, 46 patients randomly completed a diary assessing mood and physical symptoms during 24-hr electrocardiographic monitoring. Greater negative emotion was associated with increased arrhythmia. Additionally, greater negative emotion was significantly associated with increased arrhythmia among participants in a low left ventricular ejection fraction group (LVEF). However, this relationship between negative emotion and arrhythmia was not observed among higher LVEF participants. These findings contribute to a larger body of evidence suggesting that negative moods may exacerbate cardiac conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Ohio 43403, USA. rcarels@bgnet.bgsu.edu
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Carels
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cacciapaglia
authors.forename: Carlos I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Pérez-Benítez
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Douglass
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011897:Random Allocation