History of physical and/or sexual abuse and current suicidality in college women.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between a history of physical and/or sexual abuse and current suicidality in college-age women. It was hypothesized that abuse history would significantly predict level of suicidality. A secondary hypothesis was that abuse status would predict attitudes about life and death. METHOD: Female college students (n = 707) were screened for histories of childhood (before age 15) and adulthood (after age 15) contact sexual abuse and physical abuse sequelae. Ninety-five women reported a history of childhood sexual abuse, 116 adult sexual abuse, 104 child physical abuse, and 55 adult physical abuse. Participants completed measures of attitudes about life and death and current suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Child physical abuse and child sexual abuse accounted for variance in current suicidal ideation. Adult sexual abuse explained variance in positive attitudes about life. Adult physical abuse, adult sexual abuse, and child sexual abuse accounted for variance in negative attitudes about life. Finally, child sexual abuse and adult sexual abuse accounted for variance in fear of death. CONCLUSIONS: Detailed assessment of female college students' abuse histories should facilitate understanding of their level of suicide risk. Patterns of attitudes about life and death may also be informative.

The effects of daily stressors on physical health in women with and without a childhood history of sexual abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between daily stressors and physical symptoms in college-age women with a childhood history of sexual abuse and women without a history of childhood sexual abuse. It was hypothesized that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse would be particularly susceptible to the effects of daily stressors on physical symptoms, and would show more covariation between daily stressors and physical symptoms, compared to women without a history of childhood sexual abuse. METHOD: Female college students (n = 491) were screened for histories of childhood (before age 15) and adulthood (after age 15) contact sexual abuse. Of these participants, 18 women with only a history of childhood sexual abuse were assigned to the SA group, and 27 women with no history of childhood or adulthood sexual abuse were assigned to the NA group. These women filled out self-report measures of daily hassles and physical symptoms for 28 consecutive days. RESULTS: During the 5 days preceding a highly stressful day, women in the SA group reported significantly more physical symptoms than during the 5 days preceding a day of low stress. For the NA group, there were no significant differences in reported physical symptoms between high- and low-stress days. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of results for physical symptoms suggests that women with a history of childhood sexual abuse may be particularly susceptible to the effects of heightened daily stress, and may display this susceptibility in the report of physical symptoms. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Relationship of childhood sexual, physical, and combined sexual and physical abuse to adult victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Prior research has suggested that women who experience childhood sexual abuse are at increased risk for sexual victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. However, previous studies have paid insufficient attention to the overlap of childhood sexual and physical abuse. In the present study we disentangled the separate and combined effects of childhood sexual and physical abuse by comparing groups of participants who reported contact childhood sexual abuse only (SA), sequelae of childhood physical abuse only (PA), combined childhood sexual and physical abuse (CA), or no child abuse (NA). METHOD: A sample of 475 female college students completed measures of sexual and physical abuse in childhood (before age 15) and adulthood (after age 15), PTSD and trauma symptoms, and demographic variables. Of these participants, 27 were assigned to the SA group, 53 to the PA group, 31 to the CA group, and 211 to the NA group. RESULTS: The highest rate of adult sexual and/or physical victimization was reported by the CA group, followed by the PA group, with lower rates reported by the SA and NA groups. Using adult victimization as a covariate, the analyses revealed that the CA group reported significantly higher rates of PTSD and trauma symptoms compared to the NA group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that prior reports of differences in rates of adult victimization and PTSD between women who experienced childhood sexual abuse and women who did not may be attributable to the inclusion of participants with a history of combined childhood sexual and physical abuse in childhood sexual abuse groups. The importance of separating physical and combined forms of victimization from sexual abuse is discussed.

Gender differences in physiological reactivity to infant cries and smiles in military families.

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this experiment was to examine gender differences in physiological reactivity to infant cries and smiles in military families. METHOD: Twenty males and 29 females viewed and listened to videotapes of a crying infant and a smiling infant while heart rate, skin resistance, and respiration rate were monitored. All participants were active-duty U.S. Air Force personnel or their spouses. RESULTS: Males showed a larger increase in skin conductance than females during the crying infant stimulus. Males also showed an increase in heart rate during the crying infant stimulus, whereas females did not show any increase in heart rate during the crying infant stimulus. No gender differences in physiological reactivity were obtained during the smiling infant stimulus, although both males and females showed a significant increase in heart rate while viewing the smiling infant. CONCLUSIONS: The results are contrasted with previous reports (e.g., Frodi, Lamb, Leavitt, & Donovan, 1978) of no differences between genders in physiological reactivity to a crying infant. Discussion of the results focuses on models of child physical abuse that involve physiological hyperreactivity. It is hypothesized that the greater physiological reactivity of males than females during a crying infant videotape may partially explain why physical abuse of a child by a male frequently results in more serious damage to the child than physical abuse by a female.

Physiological responses to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse.

The present study investigated changes in heart rate, skin conductance, and self-reported affect in response to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse. The stimuli were videotape presentations of a smiling and crying infant. During baseline periods (prior to videotape presentations), mothers without a childhood history of abuse displayed a significant reduction in skin conductance, which was not observed in mothers with a childhood history of abuse, suggesting that mothers without a history of abuse habituated to the experimental setting. Although the two groups of mothers did not differ in self-reported affect or in heart rates in response to the crying and smiling infant, mothers with a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance while viewing the smiling infant, but not while viewing the crying infant. In contrast, mothers without a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance during the presentation of the crying infant, but not while viewing the smiling infant. Similarities between the skin conductance results for mothers with and without a childhood history of abuse and skin conductance data reported for physically abusive and at-risk mothers are discussed.

Childhood abuse, body image disturbance, and eating disorders.

Studies have suggested that women who experience child sexual abuse are at risk for developing symptoms related to anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships among childhood sexual and physical abuse, body image disturbance, and eating disorder symptomatology. Of 670 female college students screened for childhood abuse, 29 sexually abused, 32 physically abused, and 29 nonabused women completed measures of eating disorder symptoms, psychological factors thought to be related to eating disorders, and body image distortion. Contrary to previous reports, there was no evidence that child sexual or physical abuse was associated with the development of body image disturbance. Furthermore, the results did not support the hypothesis that child sexual and physical abuse are related to eating disorder symptomatology. It is suggested that subjects who are victims of child sexual abuse and who are receiving psychotherapy manifest higher rates of a number of different types of psychopathology, including eating disorders.

Physiological responses to non-child-related stressors in mothers at risk for child abuse.

Physical child abusers and adults at risk for child abuse, relative to comparison subjects, are reported to be more physiologically reactive to child-related stressors. It is not known if the reported physiological reactivity is child specific or if physical child abusers and at-risk parents are also more reactive to other types of stressful stimuli. The present study investigated changes in heart rate and skin conductance in response to four types of non-child-related stressors in at-risk and matched low-risk mothers. The four types of stressful stimuli were: a cold pressor; a stressful film depicting industrial accidents; unsolvable anagrams; and an aversive car horn. At-risk mothers, relative to low-risk mothers, had greater and more prolonged sympathetic activation during presentations of the cold pressor and the stressful film, the stimuli rated as the most stressful. The present data, combined with previous findings, support the view that generalized sympathetic activation to both child and non-child-related stressors may serve as a mediator of physical child abuse.

Decelerative changes in heart rate are associated with performance on tasks that assess intelligence.

Changes in heart rate, chin electromyographic (EMG) activity, and respiration rate were monitored during the performance of three tasks that are commonly employed to assess intelligence in human adults. Stimuli from the digit span subtest (Expt. 1) of the Wechsler scales of intelligence, the picture completion subtest (Expt. 2), and the picture arrangement subtest (Expt. 3) were employed. A 10-s warning preceding the onset of each stimulus was also used in each of the experiments. During all three tasks there was an initial increase in heart rate during the first 3-4 s of the warning signal, followed by a decrease in heart rate during the last 5-6 s of the warning signal. Mean heart rate during the 5 s immediately preceding the presentation of stimuli to which subjects gave correct responses was significantly lower than mean heart rate during the 5 s immediately preceding the presentation of stimuli to which subjects gave incorrect responses. In addition, mean heart rate during the 5 s immediately preceding the presentation of stimuli to which subjects gave correct responses decreased significantly below the pre-warning baseline level, whereas mean heart rate during the 5 s preceding the presentation of stimuli to which subjects gave incorrect responses did not decrease below the baseline level. The differential heart rate results for correct and incorrect responses were consistent across the three tasks. No significant changes in chin EMG and respiration rate were noted during any of the tasks. Relationships among heart rate, attention to environmental information, and the role of attention in measures of intelligence are discussed.

Emotional responding following experimental manipulation of facial electromyographic activity.

Increases in zygomatic electromyographic (EMG) responding have been reported during the imagination of positive affective scenes, and increases in corrugator EMG have been reported during negative affective scenes. Thirty female subjects were instructed to imagine three positive affective scenes and three negative affective scenes. During the initial imagination of each scene, the subject was told simply to imagine the situation. The subject then imagined the situation again and was instructed to enhance the muscle tension in one of two muscle groups (the zygomatic muscles for positive scenes and the corrugator muscle for negative scenes). The subject then imagined the scence a third time and was instructed to suppress the muscle tension in the same muscle group. The order of administration of enhancement and suppression trials was randomized for each scene. Subjects were given several trials to practice controlling both zygomatic and corrugator EMG. Feedback was available during the practice trials and during the enhancement and suppression trials of the experiment. Continuous monitoring of both zygomatic and corrugator EMG during the study indicated that subjects were successful in altering muscle tension in accord with the experimental instructions, and videotapes of subjects' faces indicated no overt changes in facial responding during imagination of the scenes. Subjects' ratings of emotional responding during each scene indicated that subjects experienced less enjoyment and more distress during positive affective trials in which they suppressed zygomatic EMG activity. The results are discussed in terms of the facial feedback hypothesis.

Individual differences in motor skills ability affect the self-regulation of heart rate.

Twenty males who scored relatively high on the rotor-pursuit motor skills task (High performance group) were given seven 2-minute trials to increase heart rate and seven 2-minute trials to decrease heart rate, as were 20 males who scored relatively low on the rotor-pursuit task (Low performance group). Visual analogue feedback was not provided during the first and last acceleration and deceleration trials but was presented during all other trials. Both groups of subjects were able to decrease heart rate significantly with and without feedback. Subjects in the High performance group were able to increase heart rate significantly with feedback and could generalize this increase to a no-feedback trial following feedback trials. Subjects in the Low performance group could not increase heart rate with or without feedback. Changes in respiration rate paralleled those noted for heart rate, but changes in chin electromyographic activity generally did not parallel the heart rate results. The heart rate data are discussed in terms of motor skills theories of self-regulation of heart rate.

Changes in autonomic responding to stress after practice at controlling heart rate.

Subjects in this experiment viewed a stressful film and then received one of five treatments: (a) practice at increasing heart rate without feedback, (b) practice at decreasing heart rate without feedback, (c) practice at increasing heart rate with feedback, (d) practice at decreasing heart rate with feedback, or (e) a control condition. Subjects then returned on the following day, practiced controlling heart rate again (or sat quietly, for subjects in the control condition), and then viewed the stressful film again. Heart-rate results indicated that subjects in both feedback groups manifested tonic decreases in heart rate from the first viewing of the film to the second, whereas subjects in both of the no-feedback groups manifested no changes in heart rate between viewings, and subjects in the control condition manifested increases in heart rate between viewings. However, all five groups of subjects displayed phasic increases in heart rate during specific stressors in the film during both viewings. The tonic changes in heart rate noted between viewings of the film for the feedback groups were not accompanied by parallel changes in electrodermal activity or respiration rate. Self-report ratings of subjects' beliefs about ability to control heart rate were significantly correlated with the tonic changes in heart rate that were noted between viewings of the stressful film.

Autonomic responses to stress: the effects of progressive relaxation, the relaxation response, and expectancy of relief.

Forty-eight male subjects with no previous meditative experience engaged in either progressive relaxation (PR), a meditative treatment designed to induce the relaxation response (RR), or a no-treatment control experience (C) during four sessions on consecutive days. Negative expectations regarding the effectiveness of each technique for reducing physiological responses to stress were induced for half of the subjects in each treatment condition, and positive expectations were induced for the other half. Subjects viewed a stressful film following practice of their technique during the first and fourth sessions. Heart rate and electrodermal responding were recorded continuously during practice of the techniques and during the stressful film throughout the first and fourth sessions. Results indicated lowered heart rate levels prior to the film for subjects in the PR-positive expectancy condition and during the film for subjects in the RR-positive expectancy condition. It is suggested that subjects' expectancies concerning meditation may affect cardiovascular responding during stress, although meditative treatments in general do not appear to reduce stress responding as effectively as previously suggested.

MSH/ACTH 4-10 influences behavioral and physiological measures of attention.

Eleven healthy male volunteers were infused with MSH/ACTH 4-10 and a control solution in a completely crossed and balanced procedure. Perception, attention and memory were tested as were heart rate and cephalic pulse amplitude in response to changes in the environment. Treatment of subjects with MSH/ACTH 4-10 raised their perceptual threshold for detection of simple stimuli and facilitated perceptual integration of patterned information. Administration of the heptapeptide improved the subjects' ability to discriminate tests of relevant from irrelevant information and augmented the heart-rate deceleratory response during presentation of novel stimuli. It was speculated that MSH/ACTH 4-10 has a predominant influence on attentional processes and that it may be uniquely coded for attentional/perceptual functioning.

Heart rate and cardiac phase influences on visual perception.

Twenty-six subjects were tested with a tachistoscopic recognition task while heart rate and several other autonomic indexes were monitored. In Experiment 1, heart rate was employed as an independent variable, and stimulus presentation was contingent upon the presence of individually determined low, middle, and high heart rates. The results indicated that low heart rate facilitated performance especially for stimuli presented at the fastest exposure. In Experiment 2, stimulus presentation was dependent upon cardiac phase. The findings indicated that stimulus recognition was enhanced during the cardiac P wave, but the effect was apparent only during the fastest exposure. Multiple regression analyses of the individual subject's data during both experiments indicated that highly idiosyncratic patterns of physiological responses predicted perceptual performance. The results were interpreted as being consistent with the formulations of the Laceys and also suggested that cerebral perfusion be considered as a relevant determinant of behavior.

Operant autonomic conditioning and rod-and-frame test performance.

Forty subjects were administered the portable rod-and-frame test (RFT) before and after operant autonomic conditioning training or control experiences. Ten subjects were assigned to each of four groups: a heart rate conditioning group; a false heart rate feedback group; a galvanic skin-response conditioning group; and a control group. Half of the subjects in the three experimental groups were informed of the response-reinforcement contingencies, and half were not informed. Informed subjects in the conditioning groups exhibited significantly lower portable RFT scores after conditioning. The results suggest that awareness of and control over autonomic functioning may be an important determinant of RFT performance.