Childhood trauma survivors show blunted cardiovascular responses to social stress

A study of adolescents in China found that survivors of childhood trauma exhibit blunted cardiovascular responses to social stress. When exposed to social stress, these individuals experienced smaller changes in heart rate and blood pressure. This diminished response was associated with increased social anxiety. The paper was published in Psychophysiology.

Childhood trauma refers to deeply distressing or disturbing experiences that occur during childhood and can have long-lasting effects on emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. Such trauma may result from various events, including abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual), neglect, witnessing violence, or experiencing the loss of a caregiver.

Trauma can affect brain development, stress responses, and emotional regulation, often leading to anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) later in life. Children who experience trauma tend to struggle with trust, relationships, and self-esteem. The impact may extend into adulthood, influencing behavior, health, and overall life satisfaction.

Study author Huayu Ji and her colleagues aimed to explore whether cardiovascular reactivity to social stress might serve as a physiological mechanism through which childhood trauma affects social anxiety in adolescents. They hypothesized that childhood trauma blunts cardiovascular reactivity to stress, which in turn leads to higher social anxiety.

The study involved 172 junior school students in the 7th and 8th grades from a middle school in northwest China. The average age of the participants was 13 years, and 88 of them were girls. All participants were physically healthy and had normal blood pressure levels.

Participants completed assessments of social anxiety using the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and of childhood trauma using the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. They also participated in a public speaking task, in which they were asked to give an impromptu speech about running for a class leader, a task designed to induce social stress. At the beginning of the study, immediately before the speaking task, and after the task, participants rated their subjective stress levels. Additionally, they wore electrodes that continuously monitored their electrocardiographic data and estimated their blood pressure.

The results indicated that individuals with more pronounced childhood trauma experiences tended to have lower cardiovascular reactivity during the social stress task. In other words, childhood trauma survivors exhibited smaller changes in heart rate and blood pressure during the public speaking task and also tended to experience higher levels of social anxiety.

The researchers tested a statistical model proposing that childhood trauma blunts cardiovascular reactivity to stress, which in turn leads to higher social anxiety. Their analyses confirmed that this relationship is possible, although cardiovascular reactivity is not the sole factor linking childhood trauma and social anxiety.

“This study confirmed the positive relation between childhood trauma and social anxiety in adolescents. Blunted cardiovascular reactivity to social stress mediated the above relation. Intervention efforts to alleviate social anxiety could focus on improving blunted cardiovascular stress responses of adolescents, who are exposed to childhood trauma,” study authors concluded.

The study sheds light on the links between childhood trauma and cardiovascular reactivity. However, it should be noted that the study’s design does not allow for causal inferences, and the statistical model does not provide definitive proof that the proposed causal links exist, as alternative explanations cannot be ruled out.

The paper, “Childhood trauma and social anxiety in adolescents: Mediating role of cardiovascular response to social stress,” was authored by Huayu Ji, Yiji Wang, and Wei Lü.