The Effectiveness of Paced Breathing versus Game-Biofeedback on Heart Rate Variability: An Observational Study

Bockeler, Hanna; Cornforth, David; Drummond, Jon; Olling, Lynda; Jelinek, Herbert F.

doi:10.1109/esgco49734.2020.9158174

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This discrepancy between the two studies may be due to differences in the experimental protocol: in their study, participants practiced with the breathing application for 8 min, whereas participants in our laboratory study practiced for 30 min. Also related to our work, a recent study by Bockeler et al ( 53 ) examined the effectiveness of paced breathing vs. a commercial biofeedback game based on heart rate variability (HRV). The authors found that HRV biofeedback led to a better vagal response (increase in low-frequency HRV) compared to paced breathing, and that HRV biofeedback was less stressful than being asked to follow a pacing signal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Role of Breathing Guidance on Game-Based Interventions for Relaxation Training

Gummidela¹,

Silva²,

Gutierrez‐Osuna³

2021

Front. Digit. Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Working in a fast-paced environment can lead to shallow breathing, which can exacerbate stress and anxiety. To address this issue, this study aimed to develop micro-interventions that can promote deep breathing in the presence of stressors. First, we examined two types of breathing guides to help individuals learn deep breathing: providing their breathing rate as a biofeedback signal, and providing a pacing signal to which they can synchronize their breathing. Second, we examined the extent to which these two breathing guides can be integrated into a casual game, to increase enjoyment and skill transfer. We used a 2 × 2 factorial design, with breathing guide (biofeedback vs. pacing) and gaming (game vs. no game) as independent factors. This led to four experimental groups: biofeedback alone, biofeedback integrated into a game, pacing alone, and pacing integrated into a game. In a first experiment, we evaluated the four experimental treatments in a laboratory setting, where 30 healthy participants completed a stressful task before and after performing one of the four treatments (or a control condition) while wearing a chest strap that measured their breathing rate. Two-way ANOVA of breathing rates, with treatment (5 groups) and time (pre-test, post-test) as independent factors shows a significant effect for time [F(4, 50) = 18.49, p < 0.001, ηtime2=0.27] and treatment [F(4, 50) = 2.54, p = 0.05, η2 = 0.17], but no interaction effects. Post-hoc t-tests between pre and post-test breathing rates shows statistical significance for the game with biofeedback group [t(5) = 5.94, p = 0.001, d = 2.68], but not for the other four groups, indicating that only game with biofeedback led to skill transfer at post-test. Further, two-way ANOVA of self-reported enjoyment scores on the four experimental treatments, with breathing guide and game as independent factors, found a main effect for game [F(1,20)=24.49,p<0.001, ηgame2=0.55], indicating that the game-based interventions were more enjoyable than the non-game interventions. In a second experiment, conducted in an ambulatory setting, 36 healthy participants practiced one of the four experimental treatments as they saw fit over the course of a day. We found that the game-based interventions were practiced more often than the non-game interventions [t (34) = 1.99, p = 0.027, d = 0.67]. However, we also found that participants in the game-based interventions could only achieve deep breathing 50% of the times, whereas participants in the non-game groups succeeded 85% of the times, which indicated that the former need adequate training time to be effective. Finally, participant feedback indicated that the non-game interventions were better at promoting in-the-moment relaxation, whereas the game-based interventions were more successful at promoting deep breathing during stressful tasks.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%