TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Autonomic functioning in mothers with interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder in response to separation-reunion
JO  - Developmental psychobiology
A1  - Schechter, Daniel S.
A1  - Moser, Dominik A.
A1  - McCaw, Jaime E.
A1  - Myers, Michael M.
SP  - 748
EP  - 760
VL  - 56
IS  - 4
N2  - This study characterizes autonomic nervous system activity reactive to separation-reunion among mothers with Interpersonal Violence-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (IPV-PTSD). Heart-rate (HR) and high frequency heart-rate-variability (HF-HRV) were measured in 17 IPV-PTSD-mothers, 22 sub-threshold-mothers, and 15 non-PTSD mother-controls while interacting with their toddlers (12-48 months). Analyses showed IPV-PTSD-mothers having generally lower HR than other groups. All groups showed negative correlations between changes in HR and HF-HRV from sitting- to standing-baseline. During initial separation, controls no longer showed a negative relationship between HR and HF-HRV. But by the second reunion, the negative relationship reappeared. IPV-PTSD- and sub-threshold-mothers retained negative HR/HF-HRV correlations during the initial separation, but stopped showing them by the second reunion. Results support that mother-controls showed a pattern of autonomic regulation suggestive of hypervigilance during initial separation that resolved by the time of re-exposure. PTSD-mothers showed delayed onset of this pattern only upon re-exposure, and were perhaps exhibiting defensive avoidance or numbing during the initial separation/reunion. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 9999: 1-13, 2013.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0012-1630
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.21144
ID  - ref1
ER  -