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The complex associations between early childhood adversity, heart rate variability, cluster B personality disorders, and aggression

Jankovic,Marija
; 
Bogaerts,Stefan
; 
Klein Tuente,Stéphanie
; 
Garofalo,Carlo
; 
Veiling,Wim
; 
van Boxtel,Geert
Abstract
Early childhood adversity can cause an imbalance in the autonomic function, which may in turn lead to the development of trauma-spectrum disorders and aggressive behavior later in life. In the present study, we investigated the complex associations between early adversity, heart rate variability (HRV), cluster B personality disorders, and self-reported aggressive behavior in a group of 50 male forensic inpatients (M age = 41.16; SD = 10.72). Structural Equation Modeling analysis revealed that patients with cluster B personality disorders were more likely to have adverse early childhood experiences and reduced sympathetic dominance in response to a threat than patients without cluster B personality disorders. In addition, HRV and cluster B personality disorders did not significantly mediate the association between early childhood adversity and self-reported aggressive behavior. These findings are important for clinical practice to facilitate specific treatment programs for those affected.
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Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, as part of the research program “Geweld tegen psychatrisch patienten” (Violence against psychiatric patients; NWO grant number 432–13-802).
Date
2021
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Tilburg University Research Output Collection
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Keywords
aggression, cluster B personality disorders, early childhood adversity, forensic patients, heart rate variability, structural equation modeling
Citation
Jankovic, M, Bogaerts, S, Klein Tuente, S, Garofalo, C, Veiling, W & van Boxtel, G 2021, 'The complex associations between early childhood adversity, heart rate variability, cluster B personality disorders, and aggression', International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, vol. 65, no. 8, pp. 899-915. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20986537
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14602/74485
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