OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to analyze the body sway response in specific phobia (SP) patients and healthy controls while viewing neutral, phobic, and disgusting images. METHODS The participants' heart rate (HR) and skin conductance were also recorded during the procedure. Nineteen patients with arachnophobia and 19 healthy volunteers matched by age, gender, and years of education underwent a postural control test on a stabilometric platform. RESULTS The platform recorded increased body sway in the SP group when exposed to spider images (SPI). The SP group presented increases in most parameters (SD, velocity, frequency, area, p ≤ 0.05) when viewing pictures of the SPI category. Psychometric measures of subjective anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI) and physiological states (HR; skin conductance responses; spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance) showed increased anxiety (p ≤ 0.05) in the SP group compared to healthy volunteers. High anxiety levels were observed throughout the assessment, including the task of exposure to SPI (p ≤ 0.05). No significant effect or correlation was found between skin conductance and body sway measures (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The results of the postural control test suggest the occurrence of a defensive escape response in SP, in agreement with previous evidence.

中文翻译：

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暴露于蜘蛛图像的恐惧症患者的身体摇摆增加

目的 本研究的目的是分析特定恐惧症 (SP) 患者和健康对照者在观看中性、恐怖和恶心图像时的身体摇摆反应。方法 在手术过程中还记录了参与者的心率 (HR) 和皮肤电导。19 名蜘蛛恐惧症患者和 19 名年龄、性别和受教育年限相匹配的健康志愿者在稳定测量平台上接受了姿势控制测试。结果 当暴露于蜘蛛图像 (SPI) 时，该平台记录了 SP 组中增加的身体摇摆。在查看 SPI 类别的图片时，SP 组的大多数参数（SD、速度、频率、面积、p ≤ 0.05）都出现了增加。主观焦虑（状态-特质焦虑量表，STAI）和生理状态（HR；皮肤电导反应；皮肤电导的自发波动）显示，与健康志愿者相比，SP 组的焦虑增加（p ≤ 0.05）。在整个评估过程中观察到高焦虑水平，包括暴露于 SPI 的任务（p ≤ 0.05）。在皮肤电导和身体摇摆测量之间没有发现显着影响或相关性（p > 0.05）。结论 姿势控制测试的结果表明在 SP 中发生了防御性逃避反应，与先前的证据一致。