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The Complex Associations Between Early Childhood Adversity, Heart Rate Variability, Cluster B Personality Disorders, and Aggression.

ABSTRACT: Early childhood adversity can cause an imbalance in the autonomic function, which may in turn lead to the development of trauma-spectrum disorders and aggressive behavior later in life. In the present study, we investigated the complex associations between early adversity, heart rate variability (HRV), cluster B personality disorders, and self-reported aggressive behavior in a group of 50 male forensic inpatients (M age = 41.16; SD = 10.72). Structural Equation Modeling analysis revealed that patients with cluster B personality disorders were more likely to have adverse early childhood experiences and reduced sympathetic dominance in response to a threat than patients without cluster B personality disorders. In addition, HRV and cluster B personality disorders did not significantly mediate the association between early childhood adversity and self-reported aggressive behavior. These findings are important for clinical practice to facilitate specific treatment programs for those affected.

SUBMITTER: Jankovic M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8111233 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Complex Associations Between Early Childhood Adversity, Heart Rate Variability, Cluster B Personality Disorders, and Aggression.

Jankovic Marija M Bogaerts Stefan S Klein Tuente Stéphanie S Garofalo Carlo C Veling Wim W van Boxtel Geert G

International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology 20210107 8

Early childhood adversity can cause an imbalance in the autonomic function, which may in turn lead to the development of trauma-spectrum disorders and aggressive behavior later in life. In the present study, we investigated the complex associations between early adversity, heart rate variability (HRV), cluster B personality disorders, and self-reported aggressive behavior in a group of 50 male forensic inpatients (<i>M</i> age = 41.16; <i>SD</i> = 10.72). Structural Equation Modeling analysis re ...[more]

PMID: 33412968

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Project description:Background: Difficulties in emotion regulation are a core symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and often interfere with cognitive functions, such as working memory (WM). Traumatic childhood experiences, including severe maltreatment, can contribute to emotion dysregulation, possibly mediated by changes in high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). However, it is not yet entirely understood if HF-HRV alterations underlie impaired WM during emotional distraction in BPD and if this is related to traumatic childhood experiences and to comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Objective: Our aim was to investigate performance (reaction times, RTs) and HF-HRV during an emotional working memory task (EWMT) in relation to childhood maltreatment severity and comorbid PTSD in BPD. Method: Eighty-one women (n = 28 healthy controls (HC) and n = 53 BPD patients of which n = 18 had comorbid PTSD) performed an adapted Sternberg item recognition WM task with neutral and negative social cues (interpersonal scenes from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), and neutral, fearful, and angry faces) as distractors. Dependent variables were RTs of correct trials and HF-HRV. Childhood maltreatment was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Results: Compared to healthy participants, patients with BPD showed prolonged RTs across all distractor conditions with social cues, regardless of their emotional valence. Patients with BPD, especially those with PTSD, demonstrated reduced HF-HRV both at rest and during EWMT. Severity of childhood maltreatment predicted longer RTs and lower HF-HRV during the EWMT. Conclusions: Findings suggest that adverse childhood experiences accelerate difficulties in shifting attention away from social information and that these are more pronounced in individuals with BPD. Reduced HF-HRV (low parasympathetic-tonus) may be an important psychophysiological mechanism underlying impaired WM in the presence of distracting social cues in patients with BPD, especially in those with comorbid PTSD.HighlightsThis study provides evidence that childhood maltreatment experiences are associated with hypersensitivity to social information and reduced high-frequency heart rate variability during a working memory task in borderline personality disorder.

Dataset Information

The Complex Associations Between Early Childhood Adversity, Heart Rate Variability, Cluster B Personality Disorders, and Aggression.

Publications

The Complex Associations Between Early Childhood Adversity, Heart Rate Variability, Cluster B Personality Disorders, and Aggression.

Similar Datasets

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