Citation

Fitzgerald JM, Timmer-Murillo S, Sheeran C, Begg H, Christoph M, deRoon-Cassini TA, Larson CL. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.01.005

PMID

35007667

Abstract

Emotion dysregulation that occurs after trauma conveys risk for multiple disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Psychophysiological data (e.g., skin conductance level [SCL]) may be a useful biomarker for quantifying emotion dysregulation given that autonomic nervous system (ANS)-mediated arousal may underlie this feature. In this longitudinal study, we tested whether SCL collected following a single-incident traumatic injury could predict changes in emotion dysregulation over 6 months. Sixty-six adults were recruited from the emergency department; SCL was quantified during an active trauma narrative, in which participants re-told their traumatic event to a research staff member, as well as a neutral narrative for a control condition. Change in SCL (ΔSCL) was calculated using a maximum activation - minimum activation difference score. Multilevel linear modeling was used to test ΔSCL as a predictor of emotion dysregulation using the Emotion Dysregulation Scale (EDS) over time (3 timepoints over 6 months).

RESULTS showed that greater ΔSCL - indicative of increasing arousal- during both the trauma (p = 0.037) and neutral (p = 0.013) narratives was a significant predictor of greater emotion dysregulation at each subsequent timepoint. Further, we found a ΔSCL by time interaction, such that less ΔSCL during the neutral narrative predicted decreased emotion dysregulation over time (b = -1.26, SE = 0.43, t = -2.91, p = 0.004).

RESULTS validate the use of lab-based assessments of arousal to study emotion dysregulation in trauma survivors. That recovery from emotion dysregulation was predicted by less arousal during a neutral event underscores the importance of clinically targeting response to safety in trauma survivors.

Language: en

Keywords

Trauma; Emotion; Arousal; Emotion dysregulation; Psychophysiology; Skin conductance