Inducing symptoms in high symptom reporters via emotional pictures: The interactive effects of valence and arousal

Objective: Processing unpleasant emotional cues induces elevated reporting of physical symptoms, especially in people with high habitual symptom reporting. The present study examined the role of valence and arousal of emotional pictorial cues on this effect. Methods: Female participants (N=45; 21 high/24 low habitual symptom reporters) viewed six series of emotional pictures with a homogeneous affective content: low arousal/positive, high arousal/positive, low arousal/negative, high arousal/negative-disgust, high arousal/negative-threat and neutral. Heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) were recorded during picture viewing and a symptom checklist and valence and arousal ratings were completed after each trial. Results: High habitual symptom reporters reported more symptoms than low habitual symptom reporters overall, but this difference was more pronounced when processing unpleasant high arousing cues. No group differences were found on physiological measures for any of the conditions, while perceived valence and arousal both moderated the relationship between habitual symptom reporting and symptom induction. Conclusion: These findings show an interactive effect of unpleasantness and high arousal on elevated symptom reporting in high habitual symptom reporters, suggesting that different characteristics of emotional cues contribute to a somatic memory activation process leading to the experience of elevated symptoms. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.