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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1474650

Impacts of heart rate variability on post-traumatic stress disorder risks after physical injuries: Amplification with childhood abuse histories

Provisionally accepted
Ji Hyeon Jeon Ji Hyeon Jeon 1Ju-Wan Kim Ju-Wan Kim 1Hee-Ju Kang Hee-Ju Kang 1Hyunseok Jang Hyunseok Jang 2Jung-Chul Kim Jung-Chul Kim 2Ju Yeon Lee Ju Yeon Lee 1Sung-Wan Kim Sung-Wan Kim 1Ilseon Shin Ilseon Shin 1Jae-Min Kim Jae-Min Kim 1*
  • 1 Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
  • 2 Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Chonnam National University, Division of trauma, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: This study examined the moderating effects of childhood abuse histories on the associations between low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) components of heart rate variability (HRV) and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Methods: Participants with physical injuries were recruited from a trauma center and followed for two years. Baseline assessments included LF, HF, and childhood abuse histories, assessed using the Nemesis Childhood Trauma Interview. Socio-demographic and clinical covariates were obtained. PTSD diagnoses were made at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months post-injury using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5. Logistic regression analyses assessed the associations.Results: Among 538 participants, 58 (10.8%) developed PTSD during the study period. A significant interaction was found: lower LF/HF were significantly associated with PTSD in patients with childhood abuse histories, but not in those without.Childhood abuse history significantly moderates the relationship between LF-HF HRV components and PTSD development, suggesting that childhood adversities amplify the risk. These findings support the importance of screening for childhood abuse histories and monitoring HRV in physically injured patients as part of the assessment process.

    Keywords: Post-traumatic stress disorder, Child Abuse, Heart rate variability, Risk factors, longitudinal study

    Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jeon, Kim, Kang, Jang, Kim, Lee, Kim, Shin and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jae-Min Kim, Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

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