221834921-Physiological Reactivity
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Section 1
Physiological reactivity is the body’s response to a stressor. There are several different indicators of physiological reactivity such as changes from baseline in heart rate, heart rate variability, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body temperature, and salivary cortisol levels (Hastings, Zahn-Waxler & Usher, 2007). The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not physiological reactivity influences violent behavior. While physiological reactivity does coincide with aggression, it would be inappropriate to attribute it merely to reactivity because they naturally coexist. “Experiencing affective arousal within situations contributes to the assignment of meaning or relevance to the situation, primes the body for action and promotes behavioral reaction patterns that are effectively tailored to deal with the specific situation one is encountering” (Hastings, et al., 2007). Evolution has preserved certain physiological and behavioral patterns because they enable human beings to adapt in certain social and environmental situations. One example is the “fight or flight” response, which is a state of physiological reactivity that prepares an individual for possible aggressive behavior, or conversely, to direct the body’s resources more appropriately to flee the stressor. An individual acting aggressively experiences some type of physiological reactivity, yet so does an individual trying to avoid violence (Rhodes, Harrison & Demaree, 2002). Some studies indicate that previous violent exposure experienced by an individual can influence basic physiological processes that may in turn influence emotions, behavior, and affect (Scarpa, Fikretoglu, & Luscher, 2000). Moreover, “emotional dysregulation has been suggested as an important cause of a wide range of problematic or disordered behavior patterns, including inhibition, social withdrawal and anxiety, and aggression and disruptiveness… Other disciplines also have recognized the contributions of emotion dysregulation to potentially maladaptive behaviors, such as the links drawn by health psychologists between highly assertive and competitive individuals and the experience of reactive hostility when challenged” (Hastings, et al., 2007).
Aggressive behavior can be correlated to not only increased physiological reactivity, but also decreased physiological reactivity depending on differing conditions such as emotions, personality traits or disorders, or previous exposure to violence. Male adolescents with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), for instance, were found to have lower heart rates than male adolescents without psychopathology during and following competitive tasks. “Deficient somatic and emotional cues may facilitate an individual’s ability to engage in dangerous and harmful acts, because they do not receive the normal signals that would indicate they should curtail such actions” (Hastings, et al., 2007). An aggressive attitude can propagate violence in the presence of such reckless mindsets.
Interestingly, elevated arousal tends to have similar outcomes in certain individuals, as does underarousal in others. “The psychophysiological reactivity model links hostility to cardiovascular disease. According to this model, hostile persons are more likely to be vigilant for possible conflicts in their environment, and are more likely to respond in a physiologically exaggerated style to these stressors. Cardiovascular disease is thought to appear early in these individuals, as they ‘burn out’ from their chronic and exaggerated response style. Individuals rated high in hostility were found to be more physiologically reactive (e.g. blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, etc)” (Rhodes, et al., 2002). These contradictory findings among aggressive individuals can be explained by the “multidimensional nature of hostility.” According to this theory hostility is rooted in many different aspects of an individual’s physiology and personality; it cannot be universally explained by a single finding, hence the contradictory testing results (Rhodes, et al., 2002).
What do these findings suggest about physiological activity causing violent behavior? Physiological reactivity can act as a cue to the body to act, and in turn the individual’s behavioral patterns determine whether or not an aggressive or hostile response is appropriate. It is unclear how much physiological reactivity influences behavior as opposed to activating already held behavioral patterns. For susceptible individuals these issues can be addressed by “rechanneling risky behavior, cognitive restructuring of how situations are perceived, and practice of more-effective coping skills” (Scarpa, et al., 2000). If an individual can recognize a situation as one that may escalate to hostility and violence, then they can also work to avoid those situations with the understanding that it would be socially unacceptable to act out in a violent manner.
Section 2
A real world example of the effects of physiological reactivity was illustrated in the case of an army sergeant in Iraq who shot and killed five fellow soldiers in May 2009 (names of the victims and shooter were not released). The shooting occurred at Camp Liberty, a stress clinic located on the western edge of Baghdad. The purpose of the clinic is to aid soldiers who are seeking help due to combat stress or other personal problems. The shooter was receiving treatment at the facility related to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At some point, “the sergeant had been involved in a verbal altercation at the center. His service weapon was taken from him for his own protection and he was driven back to the center later in the day. The official said that when the sergeant returned he had another weapon. It was unclear whether he was returning under orders or of his own volition” (The Associated Press, 2009). As previously noted, violent exposure can influence physiological processes which in turn influence emotional and behavioral actions. This correlates with PTSD as noted in a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, “Rates of PTSD were significantly higher after combat duty in Iraq than before deployment, with similar odds ratios for the Army and Marine sample” (Hoge et al., 2004).
Section 3
PTSD is defined as “A maladaptive condition resulting from exposure to events beyond the realm of normal human experience and characterized by persistent difficulties involving emotional numbing, intense fear, helplessness, horror, reexperiencing of trauma, avoidance, and arousal. Reexperiencing includes recurrent and intrusive thoughts, recurrent distressing dreams, feeling as if the event is happening again, intense psychological distress at exposure to any reminders (internal or external) of the event, or intense physical reactivity to any reminders of the event” (Magill's Medical Guide, 2008). In addition, “Many symptoms of PTSD can lead to a lifestyle that is likely to result in criminal behavior and/or sudden outbursts of violence. Individuals with PTSD are often plagued by memories of the trauma and are chronically anxious. Often, attempts are made to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. The emotional numbness many trauma survivors experience can lead the survivor to engage in sensation-seeking behavior in an attempt to experience some type of emotion. Some combat veterans also may seek to recreate the adrenaline rush experienced during combat. Feeling the need to be always ‘on guard’ can cause veterans to misinterpret benign situations as threatening and cause them to respond with self-protective behavior” (Baker & Alfonso, 2005). This suggests that the incident at the stress clinic in Iraq can be attributed to the emotional effects of PTSD, which was biologically supported by physiological reactivity, and further coincides with possible emotional numbing, anxiety, and sensation-seeking as is found in PTSD. “People with PTSD often have impaired capacity to cope with the ordinary stressors of daily life” (Friedman, 2006). This inability to cope in the presence of reactivity may also lead to further violent behavior because the individual lacks a positive method to offset or overcome the situation.
Section 4
Applying the concept of physiological reactivity to a situation such as the Columbine school shooting is slightly more complicated. Throughout this paper physiological reactivity has been evaluated at the time a stressor exists and the reaction of the individual in response to that stressor. Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, however, were not reacting to a stressor “in the moment.” The assault on their fellow classmates was a premeditated event. Though, it could be said that the previous bullying and physiological reactivity influenced future emotions and behaviors. A 1999 Washington Post article stated that both boys were tormented and bullied by other students at school (particularly athletes, who became a major target of the massacre). Ergo, the reports of bullying reinforce the theory that prior experiences to these stressors created the change in emotions and behaviors, which made the attack all the more likely. It’s difficult to ascertain how physiological reactivity could have prevented violence on that day, but the physiological process clearly reduced the number of fatalities. The students who bore witness to the violence had stressors imposed upon them and undoubtedly experienced physiological reactivity as a result. The physiological reactivity they experienced instinctually aided in fleeing the stressor. There are numerous possible causes for the violence imposed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and cannot solely be attributed to the process of physiological reactivity. Physiological reactivity in this case, and many others like it, is only one factor in the multifaceted makeup of violence.
References
Adams, L., & Russakoff, D. (1999, June 12). Dissecting Columbine's cult of the athlete. The Washington Post, p. A1.
The Associated Press. (2009, May 11). American kills 5 fellow soldiers at clinic in Iraq. In National Public Radio. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104003587
Baker, C., & Alfonso, C. (2005, December 19). PTSD and criminal behavior. In United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_legal.html
Editors of Salem Press. (2008). Magill's Medical Guide (4th ed., Vol. 1). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Friedman, M. J. (2006). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among military returnees from Afghanistan and iraq. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 586.
Hastings, P. D., Zahn-Waxler, C., & Usher, B. A. (2007). Cardiovascular and affective responses to social stress in adolescents with internalizing and externalizing problems. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(1), 77-87.
Hoge, C. W., Castro, C. A., Messer, S. C., McGurk, D., Cotting, D. I., & Koffman, R. L. (2004). Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care. The New England Journal of Medicine, 351(1), 13-22.
Rhodes, R. D., Harrison, D. W., & Demaree, H. A. (2002). Hostility as a moderator of physical reactivity and recovery to stress. International Journal of Neuroscience, 112, 167-186.
Scarpa, A., Fikretoglu, D., & Luscher, K. (2000). Community violence exposure in a young adult sample: II. Psychophisiology and agressive behavior. Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 417-425.
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