Sp. Orr et al., Psychophysiologic assessment of women with posttraumatic stress disorder resulting from childhood sexual abuse, J CONS CLIN, 66(6), 1998, pp. 906-913
Heart rate, skin conductance, and left lateral frontalis and corrugator fac
ial electromyogram responses were measured during script-driven imagery of
personal childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and other life experiences among wome
n with and without Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3
rd ed., rev., American Psychiatric Association, 1987)-diagnosed posttraumat
ic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from CSA. Women with current PTSD (n =
29) showed larger physiologic responses than those who never had PTSD (II =
Is) during personal sexual abuse imagery but not during imagery of stressf
ul, nonabuse-related life experiences. Responses of individuals with lifeti
me, but not current, PTSD (n = 24) fell between the other groups. An a prio
ri discriminant function, derived from physiologic responses of previously
studied individuals, correctly classified 66% of women with current PTSD an
d 78% of women who never had PTSD.