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The aim of the present study was to examine whether the finding of suppressed physiological activity in dissociative rape-trauma victims (Griffin, Resick,&Mechanic, 1997) was replicable in a nonsexual assault trauma group. A sample of 17 high-dissociating (HD) participants and 18 low-dissociating (LD) participants who had experienced a motor vehicle accident or physical assault described their trauma while skin conductance, heart rate activity, and self-reported mood were recorded. HD individuals demonstrated a trend for elevated heart rate during the experiment compared with LD participants, but both groups displayed comparable skin-conductance levels. Curve estimation analysis indicated that the two groups had a similar pattern of physiological responding during the trauma narratives. These findings challenge the notion that dissociative reactions are associated with reduced psychophysiological arousal after trauma.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Psychology
Research Group:	Clinical and health psychology
Research Field:	Health psychology
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Clinical health
Objective Field:	Clinical health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Felmingham, KL (Professor Kim Felmingham)
ID Code:	72138
Year Published:	2005
Web of Science® Times Cited:	31
Deposited By:	Psychology
Deposited On:	2011-08-22
Last Modified:	2011-09-13
Downloads:	2 View Download Statistics