Lucía Del Río-Casanova1, Ana Isabel González-Vázquez2, Ania Justo3, Vanessa Andrade4, Mario Páramo5, Julio Brenlla5, Andrés Blanco-Hortas6. 1. MD, Psychiatrist, Santiago de Compostela University Hospital, Spain. 2. PhD, Psychiatrist, A Coruña University Hospital. Spain. 3. MD, Psychiatrist, Clínica Assistens. Vigo. Spain. 4. MA, Psychologist, Clínica Assistens. A Coruña. Spain. 5. PhD, Psychiatrist, Santiago de Compostela University Hospital, Spain. 6. BS, Mathematic, Fundación Ramón Domínguez. Santiago - Lugo. Spain.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The role that emotion regulation plays in Conversion Disorders (CD) is not well known. This research deepens in this subject and describes the main differences between a group of conversion patients and a control group on different measures of emotion regulation and other clinical variables. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted including 43 patients suffering from CD and 42 healthy controls. Both groups went thought two psychiatric interviews and fulfilled 6 questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety, alexithymia, emotion dysregulation, affect intensity, psychoform and somatoform dissociation. RESULTS: Patients suffering from CD scored significantly higher on all the six questionnaires (p<0.001). Negative reactivity and negative intensity were also higher in patients (p<0.01), while cases and controls did not show any significant differences on positive affectivity and serenity. Anxiety, alexithymia and emotional dysregulation were the most relevant factors (OR=5.85/3.50/3.23 respectively). Anxiety and difficulties in emotion regulation were the most explicative variables for conversion in the regression analysis performed. Within the five factors assessing difficulties in emotion regulation, lack of emotional control and interference in goal directed behaviors were the most relevant. Positive and negative conversion where correlated to different emotional impairments. CONCLUSIONS: People suffering from CD show several emotional impairments when compared to healthy controls. Emotion dysregulation can be considered a relevant aspect in CD. The existence of specific emotional patterns for different conversion manifestations is suspected.
INTRODUCTION: The role that emotion regulation plays in Conversion Disorders (CD) is not well known. This research deepens in this subject and describes the main differences between a group of conversion patients and a control group on different measures of emotion regulation and other clinical variables. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted including 43 patients suffering from CD and 42 healthy controls. Both groups went thought two psychiatric interviews and fulfilled 6 questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety, alexithymia, emotion dysregulation, affect intensity, psychoform and somatoform dissociation. RESULTS:Patients suffering from CD scored significantly higher on all the six questionnaires (p<0.001). Negative reactivity and negative intensity were also higher in patients (p<0.01), while cases and controls did not show any significant differences on positive affectivity and serenity. Anxiety, alexithymia and emotional dysregulation were the most relevant factors (OR=5.85/3.50/3.23 respectively). Anxiety and difficulties in emotion regulation were the most explicative variables for conversion in the regression analysis performed. Within the five factors assessing difficulties in emotion regulation, lack of emotional control and interference in goal directed behaviors were the most relevant. Positive and negative conversion where correlated to different emotional impairments. CONCLUSIONS:People suffering from CD show several emotional impairments when compared to healthy controls. Emotion dysregulation can be considered a relevant aspect in CD. The existence of specific emotional patterns for different conversion manifestations is suspected.
Authors: Chantelle S Lloyd; Ruth A Lanius; Matthew F Brown; Richard J Neufeld; Paul A Frewen; Margaret C McKinnon Journal: Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks) Date: 2019-01-28