Cardiovascular correlates of motor vehicle accident related posttraumatic stress disorder and its successful treatment
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been shown to display elevated baseline cardiovascular activity and a heightened physiological reactivity to trauma-related stimuli. Study 1 examined differences in baseline heart rate (HR) and HR reactivity in 68 survivors of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and healthy controls without MVA. MVA survivors with PTSD (n=26), subsyndromal PTSD (n=22), traumatized controls without PTSD (non-PTSD with MVA, n=20) and healthy controls without MVA (HC, n=27) underwent measurement of HR during baseline and exposure to a neutral, positive, negative, and trauma-related picture. PTSD patients showed elevated baseline HR and increased HR reactivity only during exposure to the trauma-related picture. Study 2 investigated whether the elevated physiological responses observed in Study 1 normalized after cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We conducted a randomized, controlled treatment trial comparing CBT (n=17) to a Wait-list condition (WLC, n=18). Results showed a greater decrease in HR reactivity for CBT than for WLC. The change in HR reactivity was associated with clinical improvement.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 315-330 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Applied Psychophysiology Biofeedback |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2006 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 17094031 |
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ORCID | /0000-0002-5632-419X/work/142246596 |
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- Heart rate, MVA, PTSD, Treatment