Relationship between physiological and self-reported stressful response and psychosomatic disorders

Area of Science:

• Psychophysiology
• Psychology

Background:

• The Autonomic Perception Questionnaire (APQ) assesses an individual's awareness of their autonomic nervous system responses.
• Previous versions of the APQ have shown varying degrees of predictive validity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of a revised Autonomic Perception Questionnaire.
• To determine if the revised APQ can predict physiological reactivity to stressful stimuli.

Main Methods:

• A revised APQ was administered to 359 psychology students.
• High and low scorers (N=88) participated in two experiments involving neutral and stressful visual stimuli.
• Physiological measures including skin conductance, muscle tension, respiratory rate, and heart rate were recorded.

Main Results:

• The revised APQ was found to be predictive only of skin conductance responsivity to stressful stimuli.
• No significant predictions were found for muscle tension, respiratory rate, or heart rate.

Conclusions:

• The revised APQ demonstrates specific predictive validity for autonomic perception related to skin conductance.
• Further research is needed to explore the APQ's utility in other physiological domains and stress contexts.