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Psychophysiological anomalies in children with emotional and conduct disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

M. Elena Garralda ,
John Connell  and
David C. Taylor
M. Elena Garralda*
Affiliation:
Booth Hall Children's Hospital, University of Manchester
John Connell
Affiliation:
Booth Hall Children's Hospital, University of Manchester
David C. Taylor
Affiliation:
Booth Hall Children's Hospital, University of Manchester
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor M. E. Garralda, Academic Unit of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, Horace Joules Hall, Central Middlesex Hospital, Park Royal, London NW10 7NS.
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Synopsis

We studied patterns of psychophysiological (skin conductance, heart rate) reactivity to sounds and to situations with varying emotional and alerting connotations in child psychiatric out-patients and in healthy controls. Children with emotional disorders were particularly reactive to situations with aversive components, while conduct disorder subjects showed increased reactivity to pleasant situations and decreased responses to neutral but high-intensity stimulation and to withdrawal of stimulation in silence periods. The results indicate patterns of biological reactivity which may underlie different psychiatric disturbances in children.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , November 1991 , pp. 947 - 957
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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