TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gitzen, Harald
A1  - Schmidt, Jennifer
A1  - Martin, Alexandra
T1  - Subjective and physiological reactivity to emotional stressors in somatic symptom disorder
JF  - International Journal of Psychophysiology
N2  - Objective:
We examined whether autonomic flexibility to experimentally presented stressors is reduced in somatic symptom disorder (SSD) as this would point to reduced vagal control as a proposed indicator of emotion regulation deficits.

Method:
In this experimental study, the influence of health-related and social stressors on subjective and physiological reactivity was investigated in 29 subjects with SSD without any medical condition SSD(mc−), 33 subjects with SSD with medical condition SSD(mc+) and 32 healthy controls at the age from 18 to 70 years. Self-report and physiological variables were measured before and after/during stressor exposure, using state ratings of symptom intensity, disability, tension and mood, heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV).

Results:
Overall, the tension increased and the mood worsened after exposure to stressors compared to pre-exposure. Compared to HC, the two SSD groups showed higher symptom intensity, disability, tension and worse mood. The SSD(mc−) group revealed higher HR than HC (p = .012, d = −0.77). Compared to pre-exposure, symptom impairment increased after social stressor exposure in SSD(mc−) (p < .001, d = 1.36). HRV-root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) only decreased in HC during exposure (p = .003, d = −1.09), not in the SSD groups. The two SSD groups did not differ in their reactivity to stressors.

Conclusion:
HRV in SSD, seems to respond less flexibly to stressors, potentially reflecting overall physiological disturbance through reduced parasympathetic influence on HR. Stress reactivity in SSD(mc−) and SSD(mc+) do not seem to differ.
Y1  - 2024
U6  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112273
VL  - 2024
IS  - 195
SP  - 112273
EP  - 112273
ER  -