title: Autonomic functioning in mothers with interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder in response to separation-reunion.
abstract: This study characterizes autonomic nervous system activity reactive to separation-reunion among mothers with Interpersonal Violence-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (IPV-PTSD). Heart-rate (HR) and high frequency heart-rate-variability (HF-HRV) were measured in 17 IPV-PTSD-mothers, 22 sub-threshold-mothers, and 15 non-PTSD mother-controls while interacting with their toddlers (12-48 months). Analyses showed IPV-PTSD-mothers having generally lower HR than other groups. All groups showed negative correlations between changes in HR and HF-HRV from sitting- to standing-baseline. During initial separation, controls no longer showed a negative relationship between HR and HF-HRV. But by the second reunion, the negative relationship reappeared. IPV-PTSD- and sub-threshold-mothers retained negative HR/HF-HRV correlations during the initial separation, but stopped showing them by the second reunion. Results support that mother-controls showed a pattern of autonomic regulation suggestive of hypervigilance during initial separation that resolved by the time of re-exposure. PTSD-mothers showed delayed onset of this pattern only upon re-exposure, and were perhaps exhibiting defensive avoidance or numbing during the initial separation/reunion.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry (Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. daniel.schechter@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Schechter
authors.forename: Dominik A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Moser
authors.forename: Jaime E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: McCaw
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Myers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014754:Violence
keywords: co-activation; emotion regulation; heart-rate; heart-rate variability; interpersonal violence; maternal PTSD; parenting; stress physiology