Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40475290›Full record

ArticleBiological psychiatry global open science2025

Cardiac and Electrodermal Responses to Threats: Modulation by Childhood Sexual Abuse History.

Mariana Xavier, Arthur V Machado, Eliane Volchan, Letícia Oliveira, Liana Catarina L Portugal, Gabriela G L Souza, Fátima S Erthal, Raquel M Gonçalves, Camila M F Gama, Rita de Cássia S Alves and 2 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Biological psychiatry global open science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Mariana XavierLaboratory of Cognitive Psychophysiology, Department of Natural Sciences, Federal Fluminense University, Rio das Ostras, Brazil.
Arthur V MachadoLaboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil.
Eliane VolchanLaboratório de Neurobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Letícia OliveiraLaboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil.
Liana Catarina L PortugalNeurophysiology Laboratory, Department of Physiological Sciences, Roberto Alcantara Gomes Biology Institute, Biomedical Center, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gabriela G L SouzaLaboratory of Psychophysiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil.
Fátima S ErthalLaboratório de Neurobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Raquel M GonçalvesLaboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil.
Camila M F GamaLaboratory of Neurophysiology of Behavior, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil.
Rita de Cássia S AlvesDepartment of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Izabela MocaiberLaboratory of Cognitive Psychophysiology, Department of Natural Sciences, Federal Fluminense University, Rio das Ostras, Brazil.
Mirtes G PereiraPrograma de pós-graduação em Medicina (Neurologia/Neurociências), Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with significant negative lifelong consequences for physical and mental health. However, the impact of CSA history on danger perception and response has been understudied. In this study, we explored how autonomic reactivity to threats is influenced by the history of CSA in a nonclinical sample. Methods: Participants were undergraduate students with no current diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or mental disorders. After exclusion criteria were applied, the sample consisted of 135 participants. Among these 135 participants, 48 (mean age, 20.43 years; SD, 3.07; 9 men) reported having experienced significant CSA (CSA group), and 87 (mean age, 20.89 years; SD, 4.99; 30 men) reported not having had such experiences (non-CSA group). The participants viewed trauma-unrelated threatening or neutral pictures while their skin conductance response and heart rate data were collected. Results: Compared with the neutral pictures, when viewing trauma-unrelated threatening pictures, the non-CSA group presented bradycardia, which is a typical cardiac response upon exposure to negative images. In contrast, the CSA group presented a blunted cardiac response. Furthermore, we observed an overrepresentation of skin conductance nonresponders in the CSA group. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that youth who are exposed to CSA seem to have blunted autonomic responsiveness to threats. This blunted responsiveness is an atypical pattern that may represent a biomarker of many unfavorable physiological and psychological outcomes.

Indexed as

Autonomic responseChildhood sexual abuseHeart rateMaltreatmentSkin conductance responseThreatening stimuli

Identifiers

PMID40475290
PMCPMC12139405

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.