The relationship between emotion regulation capacity, heart rate variability, and quality of life in individuals with alcohol-related brain damage.
The reliable measurement of quality of life (QoL) presents a challenge in individuals with alcohol-related brain damage. This study investigated vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) as a physiological predictor of QoL. Self- and proxy ratings of QoL and dysexecutive symptoms were collected once, while vmHRV was repeatedly assessed over a 3-week period at weekly intervals in a sample of nine alcohol-related brain damaged patients. We provide robustness checks, bootstrapped correlations with confidence intervals, and standard errors for mean scores. We observed low to very low heart rate variability scores in our patients in comparison to norm values found in healthy populations. Proxy ratings of the QoL scale "subjective physical and mental performance" and everyday executive dysfunctions were strongly related to vmHRV. Better proxy-rated QoL and fewer dysexecutive symptoms were observed in those patients with higher vmHRV. Overall, patients showed low parasympathetic activation favoring the occurrence of dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies.
Department of Research and Development, ZithaSenior; Centre for Memory and Mobility, ZithaSenior.
Jean-Paul
JP
Steinmetz
Institute for Health and Behaviour, Integrative Research Unit on Social and Individual Development (INSIDE), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Research Group Health Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Claus
C
Vögele
Home St Joseph, ZithaSenior, Luxembourg.
Christiane
C
Theisen-Flies
Department of Research and Development, ZithaSenior; Centre for Memory and Mobility, ZithaSenior.
Carine
C
Federspiel
Department of Psychology, Lillehammer University College, Lillehammer; Division of Surgery and Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Oslo University Hospital - Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Stefan
S
Sütterlin
alcohol-related brain damage; emotion regulation; heart rate variability; quality of life