Sheerin Christina M, Konig Andrea, Eonta Alison M, Vrana Scott R
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, 800 E Leigh Street, Richmond, VA, USA; Virginia Commonwealth University, 821 West Franklin St., Richmond, VA, USA.
St. Mary's of Bon Secours Virginia Health System, 5801, Bremo Rd., Richmond, VA, USA.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2018 Jun;59:129-133. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.01.003. Epub 2018 Jan 16.
Parasympathetic activity, as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), underlies key aspects of emotional and cognitive self-regulation. Examining time-varying RSA response during expressive writing about trauma may help inform theory about mechanisms of this intervention. The present study investigated changes in RSA during expressive writing.
Participants (N = 246, M = 21.5 years, 72% female) were randomly assigned to expressive or neutral writing conditions and wrote for three 20-min sessions. RSA was measured continuously during the first and third writing session.
Linear mixed model analyses of RSA changes within and across sessions by writing groups found that neutral writers, but not expressive writers, exhibited change in RSA. The overall RSA changes during expressive and neutral writing are consistent with theory about the relationship between cognitive and emotional processing mechanisms and vagal activation.
As the present study was not a clinical sample selected on trauma exposure, findings should be considered preliminary. Additionally, engagement of affective and cognitive processes was only hypothesized, as manipulation checks were not performed.
The present study illustrates the benefits of examining changes in RSA over time. Future work with clinical samples should include additional measures and tasks to better define these mechanisms and rule out alternative hypotheses.
以呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）为指标的副交感神经活动是情绪和认知自我调节关键方面的基础。研究在撰写关于创伤的表达性文章过程中随时间变化的RSA反应，可能有助于为该干预措施的机制理论提供信息。本研究调查了表达性写作过程中RSA的变化。
参与者（N = 246，年龄中位数 = 21.5岁，72%为女性）被随机分配到表达性写作组或中性写作组，并进行三次20分钟的写作。在第一次和第三次写作过程中持续测量RSA。
通过写作组对各次写作期间及不同写作期间RSA变化进行的线性混合模型分析发现，中性写作组的RSA有变化，而表达性写作组则没有。表达性写作和中性写作过程中RSA的总体变化与认知和情绪加工机制及迷走神经激活之间关系的理论一致。
由于本研究不是基于创伤暴露选取的临床样本，研究结果应视为初步结果。此外，由于未进行操作检查，情感和认知过程的参与只是一种假设。
本研究说明了研究RSA随时间变化的益处。未来针对临床样本的研究应纳入更多测量方法和任务，以更好地界定这些机制并排除其他假设。
