Psychophysiological anomalies in children with emotional and conduct disorders.

We studied patterns of psychophysiological (skin conductance, heart rate) reactivity to sounds and to situations with varying emotional and alerting connotations in child psychiatric outpatients and in healthy controls. Children with emotional disorders were particularly reactive to situations with aversive components, while conduct disorder subjects showed increased reactivity to pleasant situations and decreased responses to neutral but high-intensity stimulation and to withdrawal of stimulation in silence periods. The results indicate patterns of biological reactivity which may underlie different psychiatric disturbances in children.