Psychophysiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related to Motor Vehicle Accidents Replication and Extension

• Published in: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology Vol. 64; no. 4; pp. 742 - 751
• Main Authors: Blanchard, Edward B, Hickling, Edward J, Buckley, Todd C, Taylor, Ann E, Vollmer, Alisa, Loos, Warren R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-08-1996
• Subjects: Accidents; Accidents, Traffic; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Automobile Driving; Biological and medical sciences; Experimental Replication; Female; Followup Studies; Human; Humans; Injuries; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Motor Traffic Accidents; Motor vehicles; Physiological Correlates; Post traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychophysiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Traffic accidents & safety; Victims; Human; Heart rate; Posttraumatic syndrome; Anxiety disorder; Electrophysiology; Traffic accident; Adult; Electromyography; Blood pressure; Hemodynamics; Psychological effect; Stress
• ISSN: 0022-006X; 1939-2117
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.64.4.742

Psychophysiological assessment data, including heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and frontal electromyogram (EMG) responses to mental arithmetic, idiosyncratic audiotape descriptions of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), and a standard videotape of MVAs, were collected on 105 injured victims of recent MVAs and 54 non-MVA controls. Their data replicated data from an earlier report (
Blanchard et al., 1994
)
and support the utility of HR response to the audiotaped description of the MVA as useful in distinguishing MVA victims with PTSD from those with subsyndromal PTSD and non-PTSD.At a 1-year follow-up, the psychophysiological assessment was repeated on 125 MVA victims; results showed a general diminution of psychophysiological responding. Initial psychophysiological assessment results predicted 1-year follow-up clinical status (continued PTSD or full or partial remission) for 37 of 48 individuals who initially met criteria for PTSD.