Impact of Hormonal Contraceptives and Childhood Trauma on Fear Conditioning
Disciplines
Applied Behavior Analysis | Biological Psychology | Cognitive Psychology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Hormonal contraceptives (HC) are used by millions of women across the world for multiple purposes including effective contraception, regulating menstrual cycles, and relieving menstrual cramps. Bartholomew et al. (2022) found differences in fear learning between women taking HC, and women in the early phase of menstruation. Alternatively, differences in fear learning have also been associated with adverse life experiences like childhood trauma. Jovanovic et al. (2010) discovered that people who reported high levels of child abuse have an increased startle reactivity in adulthood and impaired fear inhibition. It is hypothesized that HC will interact with childhood trauma to increase startle and inhibit safety cue learning during fear acquisition. Data were collected from participants recruited from a southeastern university. The fear-potentiated startle paradigm is a preclinical model for PTSD risk. It measures fear conditioning using a conditioned stimulus (CS+) that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), and a non-reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS-) that is never paired with an US during acquisition. Childhood trauma severity for participants was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and their reproductive status (HC use vs naturally cycling). Data were analyzed using a mixed-methods ANOVA. Although the overall interaction between reproductive status and childhood abuse was not significant, it appears that among women with a low level of childhood abuse, those who were using HC displayed higher startle reactivity than naturally cycling women. Additionally, when looking at women with a high level of childhood abuse, women using HC show learning deficits during fear conditioning and do not discriminate between the CS+ and CS- at the end of acquisition. Understanding the interaction between HC use and childhood trauma and their impact on fear learning could provide new information for the advancement of PTSD treatments.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Psychological Science
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Sharon Pearcey
Additional Faculty
Anna Rosenhauer, Psychological Science, arosenha@kennesaw.edu
Impact of Hormonal Contraceptives and Childhood Trauma on Fear Conditioning
Hormonal contraceptives (HC) are used by millions of women across the world for multiple purposes including effective contraception, regulating menstrual cycles, and relieving menstrual cramps. Bartholomew et al. (2022) found differences in fear learning between women taking HC, and women in the early phase of menstruation. Alternatively, differences in fear learning have also been associated with adverse life experiences like childhood trauma. Jovanovic et al. (2010) discovered that people who reported high levels of child abuse have an increased startle reactivity in adulthood and impaired fear inhibition. It is hypothesized that HC will interact with childhood trauma to increase startle and inhibit safety cue learning during fear acquisition. Data were collected from participants recruited from a southeastern university. The fear-potentiated startle paradigm is a preclinical model for PTSD risk. It measures fear conditioning using a conditioned stimulus (CS+) that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), and a non-reinforced conditioned stimulus (CS-) that is never paired with an US during acquisition. Childhood trauma severity for participants was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and their reproductive status (HC use vs naturally cycling). Data were analyzed using a mixed-methods ANOVA. Although the overall interaction between reproductive status and childhood abuse was not significant, it appears that among women with a low level of childhood abuse, those who were using HC displayed higher startle reactivity than naturally cycling women. Additionally, when looking at women with a high level of childhood abuse, women using HC show learning deficits during fear conditioning and do not discriminate between the CS+ and CS- at the end of acquisition. Understanding the interaction between HC use and childhood trauma and their impact on fear learning could provide new information for the advancement of PTSD treatments.