Phobia situations increase body sway in young adults

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have analyzed the influence of emotional state. However, most of these studies employed questionnaires exclusively and were conducted outside the context of the phobic episode. AIM: The study aimed to investigate how phobia interferes with body sway in younger adults. METHOD: Thirty-seven adults participated in the study and underwent a postural control assessment in which participants should maintain an upright static position while watching a video. They performed three conditions: pre-phobia, which involved viewing neutral images; phobia phase, which involved viewing images based on the previous phobia and fear questionnaire; and post-phobia phase, which involved viewing neutral images. Body sway was measured using a Vicon Motion System® - 200 Hz. Three passive markers were positioned on pre-determined anatomical landmarks of the body. The following parameters were analyzed: anterior-posterior and medial-lateral amplitude, mean velocity and displacement, and the entire oscillation trajectory. RESULTS: The ANOVA indicated the effect of phobia by analyzing the conditions of anterior-posterior displacement (F2,22 = 10.067, p <0.001) and mean velocity (F2,22 = 11.142, p <0.001). The phobia condition showed higher anterior-posterior displacement and mean velocity values than the pre- and post-phobia conditions (p <0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings indicated an increase in body sway in phobia situations, suggesting that individuals should avoid situations requiring balance when exposed to phobic stimuli.