Tonacci A, Billeci L, Calderoni S, Levantini V, Masi G, Milone A, Pisano S, Muratori P. Sympathetic arousal in children with oppositional defiant disorder and its relation to emotional dysregulation.
J Affect Disord 2019;
257:207-213. [PMID:
31301625 DOI:
10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.046]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Emotional dysregulation (ED) is a trans-nosographical condition characterized by mood instability, severe irritability, aggression, temper outburst, and hyper-arousal. Pathophysiology of emotional dysregulation and its potential biomarkers are an emerging field of interest. A Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) profile, defined as Dysregulation Profile (DP), has been correlated to ED in youth. We examined the association between the CBCL-DP and indices of sympathetic arousal in children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and healthy controls.
METHOD
The current study sought to compare the arousal level measured via electrodermal activity in response to emotional stimuli in three non-overlapping groups of children: (1) ODD+CBCL-DP (n = 28), (2) ODD without CBCL-DP (n = 35), and (3) typically developing controls (n = 25).
RESULTS
Analyses revealed a distinct electrodermal activity profile in the three groups. Specifically, children with ODD+CBCL-DP presented higher levels of sympathetic arousal for anger and sadness stimuli compared to the other two groups.
LIMITATIONS
The relatively small sample and the lack of assessing causality limit the generalizability of this study which results need to be replicated in larger, different samples.
CONCLUSION
The CBCL-DP was associated to higher levels of arousal for negative emotions, consistently with previous reports in individuals with depression and anxiety. Further work may identify potential longitudinal relationships between this profile and clinical outcomes.
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