TY - JOUR
T1 - Physiological blunting during pregnancy extends to induced relaxation
AU - DiPietro, Janet A.
AU - Mendelson, Tamar
AU - Williams, Erica L.
AU - Costigan, Kathleen A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by NIH/NICHD award R01 HD27592 to the first author. We thank Heather Sipsma and Tiffany Chiu for their assistance in data collection with the non-pregnant control group, Kristin Voegtline for assistance with data analysis, and the generous support of our study families, without which this work would not be possible.
PY - 2012/1
Y1 - 2012/1
N2 - There is accumulating evidence that pregnancy is accompanied by hyporesponsivity to physical, cognitive, and psychological challenges. This study evaluates whether observed autonomic blunting extends to conditions designed to decrease arousal. Physiological and psychological responsivity to an 18-min guided imagery relaxation protocol in healthy pregnant women during the 32nd week of gestation (n= 54) and non-pregnant women (n= 28) was measured. Data collection included heart period (HP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), tonic and phasic measures of skin conductance (SCL and NS-SCR), respiratory period (RP), and self-reported psychological relaxation. As expected, responses to the manipulation included increased HP, RSA, and RP and decreased SCL and NS-SCR, followed by post-manipulation recovery. However, responsivity was attenuated for all physiological measures except RP in pregnant women, despite no difference in self-reported psychological relaxation. Findings support non-specific blunting of physiological responsivity during pregnancy.
AB - There is accumulating evidence that pregnancy is accompanied by hyporesponsivity to physical, cognitive, and psychological challenges. This study evaluates whether observed autonomic blunting extends to conditions designed to decrease arousal. Physiological and psychological responsivity to an 18-min guided imagery relaxation protocol in healthy pregnant women during the 32nd week of gestation (n= 54) and non-pregnant women (n= 28) was measured. Data collection included heart period (HP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), tonic and phasic measures of skin conductance (SCL and NS-SCR), respiratory period (RP), and self-reported psychological relaxation. As expected, responses to the manipulation included increased HP, RSA, and RP and decreased SCL and NS-SCR, followed by post-manipulation recovery. However, responsivity was attenuated for all physiological measures except RP in pregnant women, despite no difference in self-reported psychological relaxation. Findings support non-specific blunting of physiological responsivity during pregnancy.
KW - Autonomic nervous system
KW - Heart rate
KW - Pregnancy
KW - Relaxation
KW - Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.07.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 21802489
AN - SCOPUS:84155162848
SN - 0019-493X
VL - 89
SP - 14
EP - 20
JO - Biological Psychology
JF - Biological Psychology
IS - 1
ER -