Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: Autonomic habituation to auditory stimuli

Impaired capacity for physiological habituation may contribute to the persi stence of PTSD. Habituation of autonomic responses to auditory tones was ex amined in 43 women in three groups: 14 adult female rape survivors with chr onic PTSD, 11 without PTSD, and a comparison group of 18 who had not been r aped. There were no significant differences among the groups in baseline ca rdiac or electrodermal activity. The PTSD group showed significantly slower electrodermal habituation, as measured by trials to extinction and percent age of nonhabituators, than did the comparison groups. The present study fo und slower habituation of electrodermal responses for PTSD rape victims ra neutral stimuli than for non-PTSD victims and nonvictims.