Autonomic arousal and conflict avoidance in anorexia nervosa: a pilot study

✍ Scribed by Paul Lattimore; Simon Gowers; Hugh L. Wagner

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 77 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1072-4133
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0968(200002)8:1<31::aid-erv298>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

This study examined the nature and relevance of autonomic arousal during con¯ict negotiation between anorexic patients and their mothers. Twenty anorexia nervosa patients and 14 psychiatric control patients, and their mothers were monitored for heart rate and skin conductance levels during low-and high-con¯ict discussion tasks, and self-reports of family functioning. Anorexic patients showed signi®cantly greater arousal during high-con¯ict discussions than their mothers and psychiatric controls. Mothers of anorexics showed a slowing of heart rate during the high-con¯ict task compared to their daughters. Heightened arousal in anorexic patients during high-con¯ict discussions was strongly associated with self-reported dif®culties in family problem solving. These results suggest that a relationship exists between autonomic arousal and con¯ict avoidance in anorexia nervosa which warrants further investigation.