background Anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence may be related to altered physiological reactivity in response to stress. This may be a factor in the maintenance of the anxiety disorder throughout life.
method We studied physiological responsiveness (skin conductance level: Symptom Checklist (scl), heart rate, blood pressure: bp) to a Mental Arithmetic task (ma) and a Social Competence Interview (sci) in 97 8- to 16-year-olds with an anxiety disorder. Anxiety symptoms were assessed by means of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (masc). To investigate associations between psychophysiological measures and anxiety symptoms, linear regression analyses were applied.
results Generalized anxiety was significantly associated with decreased baseline heart rate variability and increased scl during the sci. Symptoms of separation anxiety were significantly related with increased scl responses to both stressors. In addition, harm avoidance was significantly associated with decreased diastolic bp during the ma, and social phobia was significantly related to a stronger diastolic bp response to the sci.
conclusion These data show that the severity of anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents with an anxiety disorder appears to be related to reduced baseline parasympathetic cardiac control, whereas in response to stressors, anxiety symptoms appear to be associated with alterations in sympathetic reactivity.