title: Linking an Anxiety-Related Personality Trait to Cardiac Autonomic Regulation in Well-Defined Healthy Adults: Harm Avoidance and Resting Heart Rate Variability.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Anxiety trait, anxiety and depression states have all been reported to increase risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD), possibly through altering cardiac autonomic regulation. Our aim was to investigate whether the relationship between harm avoidance (HA, an anxiety-related personality trait) and cardiac autonomic regulation is independent of anxiety and depression states in healthy adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 535 physically and mentally healthy volunteers. Participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Tri-dimensional Personality Questionnaire. Participants were divided into high or low HA groups as discriminated by the quartile value. Cardiac autonomic function was evaluated by measuring heart rate variability (HRV). We obtained the time and frequency-domain indices of HRV including variance (total HRV), the low-frequency power (LF; 0.05-0.15 Hz), which may reflect baroreflex function, the high-frequency power (HF; 0.15-0.40 Hz), which reflects cardiac parasympathetic activity, as well as the LF/HF ratio.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BDI and HA scores showed associations with HRV parameters. After adjustment for the BDI scores and other control variables, HA is still associated with reduced variance, LF and HF power. Compared with the participants with low HA, those with high HA displayed significant reductions in variance, LF and HF power and a significant increase in their LF/HF ratio.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights the independent role of HA in contributing to decreased autonomic cardiac regulation in healthy adults and provides a potential underlying mechanism for anxiety trait to confer increased risk for CVD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Beitou Branch, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lien-Cheng
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.; Student Counseling Center, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Nian-Sheng
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Tzeng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Terry B J
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: San-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chuan-Chia
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-An
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Chang
keywords: Anxiety; Anxiety trait; Depression; Harm avoidance; Heart rate variability