Seligowski Antonia V, Lee Daniel J, Miron Lynsey R, Orcutt Holly K, Jovanovic Tanja, Norrholm Seth D
Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL, USA.
Department of Psychology, Auburn University Auburn, AL, USA.
Front Psychol. 2016 May 6;7:652. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00652. eCollection 2016.
Emotion dysregulation has been implicated in the negative outcomes following trauma exposure. A proposed biomarker of emotion dysregulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), has demonstrated associations with trauma-related phenomena, such as the fear-potentiated startle (FPS) response. The current study aimed to examine the prospective association between emotion dysregulation and RSA and FPS several years following trauma exposure.
Participants were 131 women exposed to a campus mass shooting on February 14, 2008. Pre-shooting emotion dysregulation was assessed in 2006-2008. Startle response, measured by orbicularis oculi electromyography (EMG), and RSA were gathered during an FPS paradigm conducted from 2012 to 2015.
No significant associations among emotion dysregulation, RSA, and FPS emerged among the full sample. However, emotion dysregulation predicted FPS during both acquisition (r = 0.40, p < 0.05) and extinction (r = 0.57, p < 0.01) among individuals with high resting RSA.
Findings suggest that pre-shooting emotion dysregulation is a potent predictor of FPS several years following potential trauma exposure, and this association varies by RSA level. RESULTS emphasize the importance of examining autonomic regulation in the association between emotion dysregulation and recovery from trauma exposure.
情绪调节障碍与创伤暴露后的负面结果有关。一种被提议的情绪调节障碍生物标志物——呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA），已显示出与创伤相关现象的关联，如恐惧增强惊吓（FPS）反应。本研究旨在考察创伤暴露数年之后情绪调节障碍与RSA及FPS之间的前瞻性关联。
参与者为131名在2008年2月14日经历校园枪击案的女性。在2006 - 2008年评估枪击前的情绪调节障碍情况。通过眼轮匝肌肌电图（EMG）测量的惊吓反应以及RSA，是在2012年至2015年进行的FPS范式中收集的。
在整个样本中，情绪调节障碍、RSA和FPS之间未出现显著关联。然而，在静息RSA较高的个体中，情绪调节障碍在习得阶段（r = 0.40，p < 0.05）和消退阶段（r = 0.57，p < 0.01）均能预测FPS。
研究结果表明，枪击前的情绪调节障碍是潜在创伤暴露数年之后FPS的有力预测指标，且这种关联因RSA水平而异。结果强调了在情绪调节障碍与创伤暴露恢复之间的关联中考察自主神经调节的重要性。
