Cardiovascular reactivity to a marital conflict version of the Trier social stress test in intimate partner violence perpetrators

Figures & data

Table 1. Mean ± SD of psychological states before and after task.

	IPV perpetrators (n = 17)			Controls (n = 17)
	Before task	After task	After–before task	Before task	After task	After–before task
STAI-S**	17.65 ± 7.20	20.18 ± 7.06	2.53 ± 5.27	15.82 ± 7.99	25.41 ± 10.49	9.58 ± 7.34
STAXI-2** S-Ang	5.86 ± 1.12	5.35 ± 0.20	−0.51 ± 0.53	5.12 ± 0.05	5.33 ± 0.57	0.21 ± 0.46

**p < 0.01.

Figure 1. Heart rate (BPM) during resting, preparation, stressor and recovery times for groups (IPV perpetrators and controls; *p < 0.05).

Figure 2. Mean ± SEM PEP values (ms) for groups (IPV perpetrators and controls; *p < 0.05).

Figure 3. HF/LF ratio or vagal ratio values (s²) during resting, preparation, stressor and recovery times for groups (IPV perpetrators and controls; *p < 0.05).

Table 2. Relationships of cardiovascular parameters (HR, PEP and vagal ratio) with psychological state profiles (STAI and S-Ang) in IPV perpetrators and controls.

	HR resting		HR AUCi anticipatory		PEP resting		PEP AUCianticipatory		Vagal ratio resting		Vagal ratio AUCi anticipatory
	IPV	controls	IPV	controls	IPV	controls	IPV	controls	IPV	controls	IPV	controls
STAI baseline	−0.335	−0.070	0.610**	0.057	−0.204	0.397	−0.086	−0.381	0.271	0.253	−0.248	−0.227
STAI (post-baseline)	−0.166	0.258	−0.063	−0.216	0.126	−0.067	−0.177	0.119	−0.166	−0.216	0.142	−0.328
S-Ang baseline	−0.402	0.020	0.768**	0.003	−0.129	0.026	0.231	−0.052	0.420	−0.089	−0.396	0.105
S-Ang (post-baseline)	0.049	0.268	−0.043	−0.276	0.242	−0.017	−0.216	0.042	0.453	−0.257	0.453	0.261

**p < 0.01.