Interpersonal Emotion Dynamics in Couples With Somatic Symptom Disorder: Dyadic Coherence in Facial Temperature During Emotional Interactions

2021

OBJECTIVE: Disturbances in emotional processes are commonly reported in patients with a somatic symptom disorder (SSD). Although emotions usually occur in social interactions, little is known about interpersonal emotion dynamics of SSD patients during their actual emotional encounters. This study examined physiological coherence (linkage) between SSD patients and their partners, and in healthy couples during their emotional interactions. Secondarily, we explored group-level relationships between participants' and their partners' subjective affect. METHODS: Twenty-nine romantic couples (16 healthy and 13 SSD patient-couples) underwent a dyadic conversation task with neutral and anger-eliciti…