Citation

Freed S, D'Andrea W. J. Trauma Dissociation 2015; 16(4): 367-383.

Affiliation

a The New School for Social Research.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15299732.2015.1004771

PMID

25894989

Abstract

The redefinition of PTSD in the DSM-5 has highlighted a range of post-traumatic affects beyond fear and anxiety. For survivors of interpersonal violence, shame has been shown to be an important contributor of self-reported symptomatology. While biological models of PTSD emphasize physiological arousal secondary to fear and anxiety, evidence suggests shame might be related to increased arousal as well. This study tested the contributions of anxiety, fear, and shame to autonomic arousal in a sample of female victims (N = 27) of interpersonal violence with PTSD. Shame proneness was the only significant correlate of autonomic arousal during a trauma-reminder paradigm. These findings indicate that shame corresponds to important indicators of changes to the autonomic nervous system, which have previously been assumed to be fear-related.

Language: en