Psychopathology, everyday behaviors, and autonomic activity in daily life: An ambulatory impedance cardiography study of depression, anxiety, and hypomanic traits

Sperry, Sarah H.; Kwapil, Thomas R.; Eddington, Kari M.; Silvia, Paul J.

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.04.008

Cited by 24 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Future research should nevertheless aim to elucidate the circumstances under which elevated heart rates can be observed in socially anxious participants. Such examination might include methods of ambulatory assessment to examine heart rate changes across a variety of everyday situations in socially anxious participants ( Sperry, Kwapil, Eddington, & Silvia, 2018 ). Additionally, socially anxious participants in our study were not clinically diagnosed and altered gaze patterns might only become apparent in a clinical sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social anxiety is associated with heart rate but not gaze behavior in a real social interaction

Rösler

Göhring

Strunz

et al. 2021

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

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Background and objectives Much of our current understanding of social anxiety rests on the use of highly restricted laboratory experiments. Latest technological developments now allow the investigation of eye movements and physiological measures during real social interactions. Considering the wealth of conflicting findings on gaze behavior in social anxiety, the current study aimed at elucidating the modulation of gaze patterns in a naturalistic setting. Methods We introduced 71 participants with differing social anxiety symptoms to a waiting room situation while recording heart rate, electrodermal activity and eye movements using mobile technology. Results We observed fewer fixations on the head of the confederate in the initial waiting phase of the experiment. These head fixations increased when the confederate was involved in a phone call and subsequently initiated an actual conversation. Contrary to gaze-avoidance models of social anxiety, we did not observe any correlations between social anxiety and visual attention but an elevated heart rate in participants with high social anxiety. Limitations Although social anxiety varied considerably in the current sample and reached clinically relevant levels in one third of participants, formal clinical diagnoses were not available. Conclusions The current findings suggest that gaze avoidance might only occur in specific situations or very high levels of social anxiety. Fear of eye contact could at times represent a subjectively experienced rather than an objectively measurable feature of the disorder. The observation of elevated heart rate throughout the entire experiment indicates that physiological hyperactivity might constitute a cardinal feature of social anxiety.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social anxiety is associated with heart rate but not gaze behavior in a real social interaction

Rösler

Göhring

Strunz

et al. 2021

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although anxiety disorders are also associated with alterations in reward processing, two studies have failed to find an association between anxiety status and resting or average ambulatory PEP (Fu, Gibson, Mendes, Schembri, & Huang, 2018;Schmitz, Krämer, Tuschen-Caffier, Heinrichs, & Blechert, 2011). Further, studies that have examined depressive and anxiety symptoms together among undergraduates (Sperry, Kwapil, Eddington, & Silvia, 2018) and disorders together among clinical samples (Licht, Penninx, & de Geus, 2012) have also failed to identify differences in ambulatory PEP (Licht et al, 2012;Sperry et al, 2018). Taken together, since alterations in reward sensitivity is not an integral component of anxiety, PEP may not capture SNS alterations in emotion processing associated with anxiety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross system autonomic balance and regulation: Associations with depression and anxiety symptoms

2020

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The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has demonstrated utility for identifying alterations in emotion processing associated with common psychopathology, including depression and anxiety. To date though the majority of this ANS research has several limitations. Most studies have examined parasympathetic and sympathetic branches separately, requiring activity in the other branch be inferred. This is problematic as each branch may function independently. Composite indices such as cardiac autonomic balance (CAB) and cardiac autonomic regulation (CAR) which examine the relative input between respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre‐ejection period (PEP) should provide more comprehensive measures of autonomic functioning and thus stronger predictors of psychopathology. However, the sympathetic branch is driven by multiple neurotransmitter systems, thus PEP does not necessarily reflect overall SNS arousal. We propose two new metrics for assessing ANS functioning associated with psychopathology: parasympathetic effects on cardiac control (RSA) relative to sympathetic effects on the eccrine system (electrodermal activity, EDA), which we term cross‐system autonomic balance (CSAB) and regulation (CSAR). Eighty‐five women (18–37) completed a baseline physiological assessment with parasympathetic (RSA) and sympathetic indices (PEP, EDA), along with self‐reported depressive and anxiety symptoms. Lower CSAB, indicating sympathetic dominance driven by cholinergic neurotransmission, was associated with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms. Lower CAB indicating sympathetic dominance driven by beta‐adrenergic neurotransmission was associated specifically with depressive symptoms. CSAB was a more robust index than RSA. Results support the utility of assessing multiple composite ANS indices for identifying physiological substrates of alterations in emotion regulation associated with internalizing disorders.

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“…As noted earlier, a physiological mechanism may underlie the relationship between anxiety and difficulty resisting food cravings. Much research on anxiety has suggested that increased anxiety is associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction, particularly reduced parasympathetic nervous system activity and reduced heart rate variability (see Sperry et al, 2018 for a brief review), although these findings are not uniform. While some research has resulted in similar findings for depression, these findings have been more heterogeneous and might be more accurately attributed to comorbid anxiety rather than to the specific impact of depression ( Rottenberg, 2007 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial Functioning, BMI, and Nutritional Behaviors in Women at Cardiovascular Risk

et al. 2020

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Psychosocial factors such as depression, anxiety, and stress are associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Health behaviors may play a role in this relationship, as individuals experiencing elevated levels of anxiety, stress, and/or depression may be less likely to engage in risk-reducing behaviors such as diet and exercise. Some evidence suggests that this relationship is particularly relevant for women. This study explored the relationship between levels of anxiety, depression, stress, and specific nutritional behaviors in a sample of 187 women at cardiovascular risk. BMI was explored as a possible moderator of these relationships. Higher levels of depression in patients with high BMI was associated with increased fruit consumption, whereas this was not seen in highly depressed patients with normal BMI. The reverse pattern was seen for consumption of sweet drinks. Anxiety was found to have a complex relationship with consumption of sweetened drinks and white bread, with higher consumption at moderately elevated levels of anxiety and reduced consumption at the highest levels. Possible interpretations of these findings, as well as their implications for lifestyle interventions with this population are discussed. These findings suggest a number of questions for further research.

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Psychopathology, everyday behaviors, and autonomic activity in daily life: An ambulatory impedance cardiography study of depression, anxiety, and hypomanic traits

Cited by 24 publications

References 72 publications

Social anxiety is associated with heart rate but not gaze behavior in a real social interaction

Social anxiety is associated with heart rate but not gaze behavior in a real social interaction

Cross system autonomic balance and regulation: Associations with depression and anxiety symptoms

Psychosocial Functioning, BMI, and Nutritional Behaviors in Women at Cardiovascular Risk

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