title: Cardiovascular correlates of motor vehicle accident related posttraumatic stress disorder and its successful treatment.
abstract: Persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been shown to display elevated baseline cardiovascular activity and a heightened physiological reactivity to trauma-related stimuli. Study 1 examined differences in baseline heart rate (HR) and HR reactivity in 68 survivors of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and healthy controls without MVA. MVA survivors with PTSD (n=26), subsyndromal PTSD (n=22), traumatized controls without PTSD (non-PTSD with MVA, n=20) and healthy controls without MVA (HC, n=27) underwent measurement of HR during baseline and exposure to a neutral, positive, negative, and trauma-related picture. PTSD patients showed elevated baseline HR and increased HR reactivity only during exposure to the trauma-related picture. Study 2 investigated whether the elevated physiological responses observed in Study 1 normalized after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We conducted a randomized, controlled treatment trial comparing CBT (n=17) to a Wait-list condition (WLC, n=18). Results showed a greater decrease in HR reactivity for CBT than for WLC. The change in HR reactivity was associated with clinical improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. rabe@biopsych.tu-dresden.de
authors.forename: Sirko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rabe
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dörfel
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zöllner
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maercker
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karl
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome