title: Attachment Status Affects Heart Rate Responses to Experimental Ostracism in Inpatients with Depression.
abstract: Depression is assumed to be both a risk factor for rejection and a result of it, and as such constitutes an important factor in rejection research. Attachment theory has been applied to understand psychological disorders, such as depression, and can explain individual differences in responses to rejection. Research on autonomic nervous system activity to rejection experiences has been contradictory, with opposing strings of argumentation (activating vs. numbing). We investigated autonomic nervous system-mediated peripheral physiological responses (heart rate) to experimentally manipulated ostracism (Cyberball) in 97 depressed patients with organized (n = 52) and disorganized attachment status (n = 45). Controlling for baseline mean heart rate levels, depressed patients with disorganized attachment status responded to ostracism with significantly higher increases in heart rate than depressed patients with organized attachment status (p = .029; ηp2 = .051). These results suggest that attachment status may be a useful indicator of autonomic responses to perceived social threat, which in turn may affect the therapeutic process and the patient-therapist relationship.
authors.affiliation: Eos-Klinik für Psychotherapie, Alexianer GmbH, Münster, Germany.|Institute for Health and Behaviour, Research Unit INSIDE, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Jannika
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Rubeis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lillehammer University College, Lillehammer, Norway.|Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Division of Surgery and Clinical Neuroscience, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Norway.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sütterlin
authors.affiliation: Eos-Klinik für Psychotherapie, Alexianer GmbH, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.affiliation: Eos-Klinik für Psychotherapie, Alexianer GmbH, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawelzik
authors.affiliation: University of Applied Sciences Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Randenborgh
authors.affiliation: Eos-Klinik für Psychotherapie, Alexianer GmbH, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Victor
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Behaviour, Research Unit INSIDE, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.|Research Group on Health Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vögele
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D009769:Object Attachment