The Assessment of Psychophysiological Reactivity to the Expressed Emotion of the Relatives of Schizophrenic Patients

1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (5) ◽  
pp. 618-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Christine Barrowclough ◽  
Kathleen Porceddu ◽  
Susan Watts
Keyword(s):  
Schizophrenic Patient ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Expressed Emotion ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Psychophysiological Reactivity ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Assessment Measure ◽  
Skin Conductance Levels ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Electrodermal Reactivity

The measure of expressed emotion (EE) of the relative has been found to be an important predictor of schizophrenic relapse. Electrodermal measures were recorded when the schizophrenic patient was talking to an experimenter, and when the patient was talking to a relative. Although there were no differences during the relative-absent period, patients with a high-EE relative present exhibited significantly higher frequencies of non-specific skin-conductance responses (NS-SCRs) than patients with a low-EE relative present. Patients show a significant decrease in NS-SCRs on the entry of low-EE, but not high-EE relatives. Patients with high-EE relatives show overall higher levels of skin-conductance levels (SCLs) than patients with low-EE relatives. Although patients with high-EE relatives rate themselves significantly more tense and anxious on self-rating scales, there are no significant correlations between self-ratings and electrodermal measures. The use of electrodermal reactivity as an assessment measure of relapse risk is discussed.

Skin conductance and schizophrenic symptomatology

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 177-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. à Campo ◽  
H.L.G.J. Merckelbach ◽  
H. Nijman ◽  
M. Yeates-Frederikx ◽  
W. Allertz
Keyword(s):  
Patient Group ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Mean Amplitude ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Skin Conductance Levels ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Group A ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Psychophysiological Parameter

SUMMARYSkin conductance is a psychophysiological parameter that reflects fundamental processes such as attention and arousal. The present study explored whether deviations in skin conductance activity are associated with severity of schizophrenic symptoms. For this purpose, Skin Conductance Responses (SCRs) to discrete stimuli (80 dB noises) and Skin Conductance Levels (SCLs) of 37 schizophrenic patients and 31 healthy volunteers were recorded. In accordance with previous studies, schizophrenic patients were found to be hyporesponsive compared to healthy controls. More specifically, almost half of the patients (46%) did not react with any SCR to the first 3 stimuli, whereas only 10% of the control group exhibited such a non-responding. Accordingly, the mean amplitude of the first 3 SCRs – as measured in u Siemens – was found to be significantly lower in patients compared to controls. As well, mean SCL was found to be (marginally) elevated in the patient group. This was especially the case for patients who did exhibit SCRs. In the patient group, a negative correlation was found between amplitude of SCRs and symptom severity. This association was mainly carried by a significant correlation between positive symptoms and reduced SCRs. The clinical relevance of these findings is discussed in detail.

Psychophysiological Assessment of Expressed Emotion in Schizophrenia: A Case Example

1984 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Tarrier ◽  
Christine Barrowclough
Keyword(s):  
Spontaneous Activity ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Expressed Emotion ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Psychophysiological Response ◽  
Psychophysiological Assessment ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Case Assessment ◽  
Conductance Level

SummaryPrevious research has demonstrated a different psychophysiological response of schizophrenic patients depending on whether their key relative was rated high or low on Expressed Emotion (EE). A case assessment is described in which a young man suffering from schizophrenia, who lived with both a high EE and a low EE parent, was tested psychophysiologically in their presence using an ABAC design. The patient demonstrated a significantly higher amount of spontaneous activity in skin conductance level when the high EE parent was present. The high EE parent also demonstrated a greater perceived inability to cope, and a higher level of personal distress.

Psychophysiological Responses of Schizophrenic Patients to High and Low Expressed Emotion Relatives

1981 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sturgeon ◽  
Liz Kuipers ◽  
Ruth Berkowitz ◽  
Graham Turpin ◽  
Julian Leff
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Expressed Emotion ◽  
Video Tape ◽  
Psychophysiological Responses ◽  
Spontaneous Fluctuation ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Spontaneous Fluctuations ◽  
Made In

SummaryMeasurements of spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance in 20 acutely ill schizophrenic patients were made in a video-tape studio. Recordings were made initially with the patient talking to an interviewer, then during a video-taped interview conducted with the patient's key relative. The Expressed Emotion (EE) of the patient's key relative had been measured previously. Significant differences in the type of spontaneous fluctuation activity between patients who had low EE and high EE relatives were demonstrated when the relative was present, but not when the relative was absent. The findings were not related to phenothiazine medication.

Electrodermal Responsiveness and Negative Symptoms in Brain Injured Patients

1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Andersson ◽  
A. Finset
Keyword(s):  
Brain Injury ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Acquired Brain Injury ◽  
Orienting Response ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Brain Injured ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Injured Patients

Abstract Electrodermal non-responsiveness has been associated with negative symptoms, especially among schizophrenic patients. The aim of this study was to examine how electrodermal non-response, defined as failure to elicit a skin conductance orienting response to a neutral auditory stimulus, was related to negative symptoms in patients with acquired brain injury. Sixty-four brain injured patients were assessed for apathy, lack of initiative, and emotional indifference. We found that EDA non-responders displayed significantly higher scores on rating scales used to assess apathy and related negative symptoms compared to EDA responders. No such differences were found regarding depressed mood/emotional distress or vegetative symptoms of depression. This difference could not be attributed to neurological etiology nor to localization of lesion. These findings, resembling psychophysiological findings in schizophrenia, indicate that EDA non-response is associated with apathy and related negative symptoms also in brain injured patients. This may also enable a better differentiation between negative symptoms of organic origin and emotional changes related to psychogenic factors after acquired brain damage.

scholarly journals A syncing feeling: Reductions in physiological arousal in response to observed social synchrony

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley E Kragness ◽  
Laura K Cirelli
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Physiological Arousal ◽  
Sporting Events ◽  
Large Group ◽  
Interpersonal Synchrony ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Skin Conductance Levels ◽  
Shared Goal ◽  
Post Hoc

Abstract Synchronized movements are often key elements in activities where social bonding and emotional connection are a shared goal, such as religious gatherings, sporting events, parties, and weddings. Previous studies have shown that synchronous movements enhance prosocial attitudes and affiliative behaviors. Similarly, observers attribute more social closeness to people moving synchronously together than people moving asynchronously. The mechanisms by which synchrony modulates these attributions are not well understood. In the present study, we ask whether viewing synchronous activities increases physiological arousal as measured by skin conductance, and whether group size impacts this effect. Undergraduates viewed a series of short videos depicting people moving either (1) in or out of synchrony with each other and (2) in a large or small group. Participants’ skin conductance was measured. Change in skin conductance levels and response counts were attenuated while watching synchronous movement, but only in the large-group condition. Post-hoc analyses suggest that viewer enjoyment/interest in the large-group synchronous videos mediated this association for phasic skin conductance responses, but no evidence of mediation was found for tonic skin conductance levels. Results extend previous research on affiliative effects of first-person interpersonal synchrony and demonstrate that watching others moving synchronously has an attenuating effect on observers’ physiological state.

Skin Conductance Responses in Unmedicated Recently Admitted Schizophrenic Patients

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bartfai ◽  
S. Levander ◽  
G. Edman ◽  
D. Schalling ◽  
G. Sedvall
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

Electrodermal Responding and Chlorpromazine Treatment in Schizophrenia

1987 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 850-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stavroula Yannitsi ◽  
Aris Liakos ◽  
Yannis Papakostas
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Psychiatric Rating ◽  
Psychiatric Rating Scale ◽  
Drug Free

Skin conductance level (SCL) and skin conductance responses (SCR) to a random series of tones were measured in 25 drug-free schizophrenic patients, 15 male and 10 female, before and after standard chlorpromazine treatment. The DSM-III diagnostic criteria were used for selecting subjects. Psychopathology was measured with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. After treatment, patients showed an improved psychopathology and decreased SCL. There was a transition of patients to lower response categories: the number of responders decreased twice and the number of non-responders increased three times. Responders exhibited significantly higher SCL than non-responders and fast habituators were between the two groups.

The Antiaggressive Action of Combined Haloperidol-Propranolol Treatment in Schizophrenia

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 312-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gadi Maoz ◽  
Daniel Stein ◽  
Sorin Meged ◽  
Larisa Kurzman ◽  
Joseph Levine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scales ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Propranolol Group ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Propranolol Treatment ◽  
Simultaneous Decrease ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Haloperidol Treatment ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Drug Free

Psychopharmacological interventions for managing aggression in schizophrenia have thus far yielded inconsistent results. This study evaluates the antiaggressive efficacy of combined haloperidol-propranolol treatment. Thirty-four newly admitted schizophrenic patients were studied in a controlled double-blind trial. Following a 3-day drug-free period and 7 days of haloperidol treatment, patients were randomly assigned to receive either haloperidol-propranolol or haloperidol-placebo for eight consecutive weeks. Doses of medications were adjusted as necessary; biperiden was administered if required. Rating scales were applied to assess aggression, anger, psychosis, depression, anxiety and extrapyramidal symptoms. The mean daily dose of haloperidol was 21 mg (SD = 6.4) in the research group and 29 mg (SD = 6.9) in the controls. Mean and maximal daily doses of propranolol were 159 mg (SD = 61) and 192 mg (SD = 83), and of placebo, 145 mg (SD = 50) and 180 mg (SD = 70), respectively. Compared with the controls, the scores for the research patients decreased significantly from baseline, particularly after 4 weeks of treatment, for some dimensions of anger, psychosis, anxiety, and neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism. A tendency for reduced aggression was shown in the combined haloperidol-propranolol group for some dimensions but not others. These patients also required significantly less biperiden. The tendency toward elevated antiaggressive effect of combined haloperidol-propranolol treatment compared to haloperidol alone may be explained by a simultaneous decrease in aggression, psychotic symptomatology, and anxiety.

Larger Skin Conductance Levels on Personal Rather than Deceptive Responses

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa T. Nguyen ◽  
Senqi Hu ◽  
Gregg Gold ◽  
Brittaini Graham ◽  
Kevin Howerton
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Levels
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