Effects of paced respiration on anxiety reduction in a clinical population

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of paced respiration on autonomic and self-report indices of affect within a clinical population. Thirty-six alcohol-dependent inpatients scoring high in trait anxiety were randomly assigned to either a pacing or attention control group. The paced subjects received 10 minutes of slow-breathing training during the first experimental session, while control subjects simply counted the pacing tones. In a second session, paced subjects were asked to breathe at the same lowered rate (10 cycles per minute) on their own, while the remaining subjects were instructed to relax. Prior to and following each session, self-ratings of tension level and state anxiety were collected. As expected, paced subjects evidenced greater reductions in self-rated tension, state anxiety, and skin conductance levels compared to the control subjects. It was concluded that respiratory pacing is an easily learned self-control strategy and potentially may be a useful therapeutic tool.

[1]  L. Sroufe,et al.  Effects of depth and rate of breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability. , 1971, Psychophysiology.

[2]  H. A. Witkin,et al.  The effects of stress on components of the respiration cycle. , 1975, Psychophysiology.

[3]  D. S. Holmes,et al.  The utility of prolonged respiratory exhalation for reducing physiological and psychological arousal in non-threatening and threatening situations. , 1984, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[4]  G. Howard,et al.  Presurgical anxiety and postsurgical pain and adjustment: effects of a stress inoculation procedure. , 1986, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[5]  M. Ford,et al.  Quieting response training: Long-term evaluation of a clinical biofeedback practice , 1983, Biofeedback and self-regulation.

[6]  P. Grossman.  Respiration, stress, and cardiovascular function. , 1983, Psychophysiology.

[7]  P. Salkovskis,et al.  Respiratory control as a treatment for panic attacks. , 1985, Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry.

[8]  Herbert Benson,et al.  The physiology of meditation. , 1972 .

[9]  G. J. Magarian,et al.  Hyperventilation Syndromes: Infrequently Recognized Common Expressions of Anxiety and Stress , 1982, Medicine.

[10]  P. Grossman,et al.  Diagnosis of hyperventilation syndrome on the basis of reported complaints. , 1984, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[11]  M. Jurko,et al.  Pathology of the Energy System: An Experimental-Clinical Study of Physiological Adaptive Capacities in a Non-Patient, a Psychoneurotic, and an Early Paranoid Schizophrenic Group , 1952 .

[12]  Control of respiration as a means of controlling responses to threat. , 1978, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[13]  P. Obrist,et al.  Presidential Address, 1975. The cardiovascular-behavioral interaction--as it appears today. , 1976, Psychophysiology.

[14]  J. Huttenlocher,et al.  Cardiac conditioning: the effects and implications of controlled and uncontrolled respiration. , 1961, Journal of experimental psychology.

[15]  D. S. Holmes,et al.  Effects of paced respiration and expectations on physiological and psychological responses to threat. , 1979, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  W. Suess,et al.  The effects of psychological stress on respiration: a preliminary study of anxiety and hyperventilation. , 1980, Psychophysiology.

[17]  H Zeier,et al.  Arousal reduction with biofeedback-supported respiratory meditation , 1984, Biofeedback and self-regulation.

[18]  J. Brener,et al.  Interoceptive discrimination in intact humans: detection of cardiac activity. , 1974, Physiology & behavior.

[19]  J. Brener,et al.  Bidirectional voluntary heart rate control during static muscular exercise: metabolic and respiratory correlates. , 1986, Psychophysiology.

[20]  B. T. Engel,et al.  Effect of increases and decreases in breathing rate on heart rate and finger pulse volume. , 1967, Psychophysiology.

[21]  V. A. Harris,et al.  Paced respiration as a technique for the modification of autonomic response to stress. , 1976, Psychophysiology.

[22]  C. Spielberger,et al.  Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , 1970 .

[23]  H. Dickel,et al.  A therapy for anxiety tension reactions , 1958 .

[24]  R. A. Webb,et al.  The cardiac-somatic relationship: some reformulations. , 1970, Psychophysiology.