Background and objectives: Social support is one of the three strongest predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the present study, we aimed to assess the buffering power of overt socially supportive and unsupportive behaviors from the significant other, in a group with PTSD and a comparison group.
Design and methods: A total of 46 individuals with PTSD and 42 individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or panic disorder (PD) completed diagnostic interviews and an anxiety-oriented social interaction with a significant other. Heart rate of participants was continuously measured during this interaction and overt social behaviors from the significant other were recorded on videotape and coded using a validated system.
Results: Changes in heart rate in PTSD participants correlated negatively with changes in overt socially supportive behaviors from their significant other (r from -.36 to -.50, p < .05), while changes in overt unsupportive social behaviors from their significant other did not yield any significant correlation (r from -.01 to .05, p > .05). No such statistically significant association emerged in the group with OCD or PD (r from .01 to -.27, p > .05).
Conclusions: This study sustain the buffering power of overt supportive behaviors from the significant other on heart rate changes in PTSD.
Keywords: Posttraumatic stress disorder; heart rate; obsessive-compulsive disorder; overt supportive and unsupportive social interactions; panic disorder.