Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: Autonomic habituation to auditory stimuli

Impaired capacity for physiological habituation may contribute to the persistence of PTSD. Habituation ofautonomic responses to auditory tones was examined in 43 women in three groups: 14 adult female rape survivors with chronic PTSD, 11 without PTSD, and a comparison group of 18 who had not been ra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of traumatic stress 2001-04, Vol.14 (2), p.283-293
Main Authors: Rothbaum, Barbara Olasov, Kozak, Michael J., Foa, Edna B., Whitaker, Daniel J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic Stimulation - psychology
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Analysis of Variance
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Autonomic Nervous System - physiopathology
Avoidance Learning
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Chronic Disease
electrodermal
Fear
Female
Galvanic Skin Response - physiology
Habituation, Psychophysiologic - physiology
Heart Rate
Humans
Interview, Psychological
Medical sciences
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
psychophysiological
PTSD: habituation
Rape - psychology
rape victims
Severity of Illness Index
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - physiopathology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Survivors - psychology
Time Factors
Victimology
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Summary:Impaired capacity for physiological habituation may contribute to the persistence of PTSD. Habituation ofautonomic responses to auditory tones was examined in 43 women in three groups: 14 adult female rape survivors with chronic PTSD, 11 without PTSD, and a comparison group of 18 who had not been raped. There were no significant differences among the groups in baseline cardiac or electrodermal activity. The PTSD group showed significantly slower electrodermal habituation, as measured by trials to extinction and percentage of nonhabituators, than did the comparison groups. The present study found slower habituation of electrodermal responses for PTSD rape victims to neutral stimuli than for non‐PTSD victims and nonvictims.
ISSN:0894-9867
1573-6598
DOI:10.1023/A:1011160800958