Wisco Blair E, Pugach Cameron P, May Casey L, Silvia Paul J
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2025 Aug 11. doi: 10.1037/abn0001028.
The development of wearable technology affords objective measurement of physiological states outside the laboratory. We used ambulatory physiological assessment to measure overall arousal and reactivity to trauma reminders, a hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ambulatory assessment improves upon laboratory-based tests by measuring actual trauma reminders as they occur in everyday life. In this study, we recruited a mixed-trauma sample of 80 participants (39 diagnosed with PTSD) who completed 3 days of ambulatory physiological assessment time-synced with self-reported ecological momentary assessments of trauma reminders and contextual factors. We assessed heart rate (interbeat interval [IBI]) as a nonspecific marker of overall physiological arousal, skin conductance and preejection period as markers of sympathetic activity, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a marker of parasympathetic activity. We found that individuals with and without PTSD did not significantly differ on average levels of any physiological marker. Among individuals diagnosed with PTSD, IBI was significantly lower, indicating higher arousal, when participants were reminded of their trauma. Trauma reminders were not significantly associated with respiratory sinus arrhythmia or preejection period. Skin conductance was significantly lower (indicating lower arousal) in the presence of trauma reminders, counter to predictions. For time-varying predictors, we found that trauma reminders were associated with weaker physiological responses, as indexed by IBI, when the reminders were perceived as controllable and when they were experienced in the presence of social support. Our findings support heart rate as an inexpensive and accessible marker that can elucidate the role of contextual factors affecting PTSD symptom expression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
可穿戴技术的发展使得在实验室之外对生理状态进行客观测量成为可能。我们采用动态生理评估来测量对创伤提示的整体唤醒水平和反应性，这是创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的一个标志性症状。动态评估通过测量日常生活中实际出现的创伤提示，改进了基于实验室的测试。在本研究中，我们招募了80名混合创伤样本的参与者（39名被诊断为PTSD），他们完成了3天的动态生理评估，同时进行了与自我报告的创伤提示和情境因素的生态瞬时评估时间同步。我们评估了心率（心跳间期[IBI]）作为整体生理唤醒的非特异性指标，皮肤电导率和射血前期作为交感神经活动的指标，以及呼吸性窦性心律不齐作为副交感神经活动的指标。我们发现，患有和未患有PTSD的个体在任何生理指标的平均水平上没有显著差异。在被诊断为PTSD的个体中，当参与者被提醒其创伤时，IBI显著降低，表明唤醒水平较高。创伤提示与呼吸性窦性心律不齐或射血前期没有显著关联。与预测相反，在有创伤提示的情况下，皮肤电导率显著降低（表明唤醒水平较低）。对于随时间变化的预测因素，我们发现当创伤提示被认为是可控的以及在有社会支持的情况下经历时，创伤提示与较弱的生理反应相关，以IBI为指标。我们的研究结果支持心率作为一种廉价且易于获取的指标，它可以阐明影响PTSD症状表达的情境因素的作用。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2025美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
