Objective: The primary objective was to assess skin conductance response (SCR) to a laboratory stressor in combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to controls. The secondary objective was to evaluate the relationship between SCR and PTSD symptom clusters.
Method: 15 combat/ PTSD, 15 combat/no PTSD, 15 no combat/no PTSD veterans had their SCR recording during aversive pictures from the International Affective Picture Scale.
Results: The groups had similar demographics and medical history (all p>.05). SCR was different between groups (F(2,42) = 4.34, p=.02). The combat/PTSD group had the highest response compared to both control groups. Numbing-avoiding was predictive of SCR (F(1,42)=12.72, p=.001), while re-experiencing and hyper-arousal were not (p's>.05).
Conclusions: Increased SCR in the PTSD group validates previous studies. Numbing-avoiding PTSD cluster scores correlated with SCR values. These findings support current PTSD therapies that reduce avoidance behaviors.