A preliminary investigation of adult defence style and physiological reactivity to infant distress signals Gould, Emma L., Lane, Tammy and Lewis, Andrew J. 2011, A preliminary investigation of adult defence style and physiological reactivity to infant distress signals, Psychology research, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 410-421. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads lewis-preliminaryinvestigation-2011.pdf Published version application/pdf 266.28KB 73 Title A preliminary investigation of adult defence style and physiological reactivity to infant distress signals Author(s) Gould, Emma L. Lane, Tammy Lewis, Andrew J. orcid.org/0000-0002-2519-7976 Journal name Psychology research Volume number 1 Issue number 6 Start page 410 End page 421 Total pages 13 Publisher David Publishing Company Place of publication Libertyville, Il. Publication date 2011-12 ISSN 2159-5542 Keyword(s) infant distress signals physiological responsiveness defence mechanisms galvanic skin response HR (heart rate) Summary Species whose offspring require extended care-giving ought to be predisposed to being biologically responsive to their infant's signalling. This paper examined the interplay between biological and psychological aspects of adult response to an infant's distress. HR (heart rate) and GSR (galvanic skin response) were recorded continuously, while 50 adults listened to white noise and an infant cry audio recording. Participants completed the defence style questionnaire and the state trait anxiety inventory. HR acceleration occurred in response to the control sound, while HR decelerated in response to the infant cry. GSR responsiveness was positively correlated with immature and neurotic defence styles. When controlling for other variables, immature defence was a unique and independent predictor of GSR change in response to infant distress. Defence demonstrated a stronger relationship than self-reported anxiety, than that with physiological responsiveness. Employing defence mechanisms appears to reduce an individual's perceived anxiety, though it has little effect on physiological arousal levels. Language eng Field of Research 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 920410 Mental Health HERDC Research category C3.1 Non-refereed articles in a professional journal Copyright notice ©2011, David Publishing Company Free to Read? Yes Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30052810 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Psychology Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 04 Jun 2013, 12:10:38 EST Tue, 04 Jun 2013, 12:12:29 EST Wed, 05 Jun 2013, 09:18:51 EST Thu, 06 Jun 2013, 15:43:12 EST Thu, 06 Jun 2013, 15:44:01 EST Tue, 10 Feb 2015, 10:35:37 EST Tue, 06 Sep 2016, 21:07:44 EST Tue, 05 Dec 2017, 12:40:53 EST Fri, 07 Sep 2018, 16:31:32 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 111 Abstract Views, 74 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 04 Jun 2013, 12:10:33 EST by Jane Moschetti