Peritraumatic tonic immobility is associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms in undergraduate Brazilian students

Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria

Liana Catarina L Portugal²  Mirtes Garcia Pereira²  Rita De Cássia S Alves²  Gisella Tavares²  Isabela Lobo²  Vanessa Rocha-rego¹  Carla Marques-portella¹  Mauro V Mendlowicz²  Evandro S Coutinho¹  Adriana Fiszman¹  Eliane Volchan¹  Ivan Figueira¹  Letícia De Oliveira² 

[1] ,Universidade Federal Fluminense,Brazil

关键词: Posttraumatic stress disorder;    Tests;    Community mental health (Public health);    Other research areas (Tonic immobility);    Other Patient Groups;    Transtorno de estresse pós-traumático;    Testes psicométricos;    Saúde mental da comunidade (Saúde pública);    Outras áreas de pesquisa (Imobilidade tônica);    Outros grupos de pacientes;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1516-44462012000100011

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

OBJECTIVE: Tonic immobility is a defensive reaction occurring under extreme life threats. Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reporting peritraumatic tonic immobility show the most severe symptoms and a poorer response to treatment. This study investigated the predictive falue of tonic immobility for posttraumatic stress symptoms in a non-clinical sample. METHODS: One hundred and ninety-eight college students exposed to various life threatening events were selected to participate. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Civilian Version (PCL-C) and tonic immobility questions were used. Linear regression models were fitted to investigate the association between peritraumatic tonic immobility and PCL-C scores. Peritraumatic dissociation, peritraumatic panic reactions, negative affect, gender, type of trauma, and time since trauma were considered as confounding variables. RESULTS: We found significant association between peritraumatic tonic immobility and PTSD symptoms in a non-clinical sample exposed to various traumas, even after regression controlled for confounding variables (β = 1.99, p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: This automatic reaction under extreme life threatening stress, although adaptive for defense, may have pathological consequences as implied by its association with PTSD symptoms.

【 授权许可】

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