The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults
A growing number of empirical studies have revealed that diaphragmatic breathing may trigger body relaxation responses and benefit both physical and mental health. However, the specific benefits of diaphragmatic breathing on mental health remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigat...
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doaj-7abe9440fa1d434083b570bcfdec6fd62020-11-24T21:04:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782017-06-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874234806The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy AdultsXiao Ma0Xiao Ma1Zi-Qi Yue2Zhu-Qing Gong3Zhu-Qing Gong4Hong Zhang5Nai-Yue Duan6Yu-Tong Shi7Gao-Xia Wei8Gao-Xia Wei9You-Fa Li10Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaCollaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaCollege of P.E. and Sports, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, ChinaCollege of P.E. and Sports, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaCollege of P.E. and Sports, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaCollege of P.E. and Sports, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, ChinaDepartment of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, BostonMA, United StatesCollaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, ChinaA growing number of empirical studies have revealed that diaphragmatic breathing may trigger body relaxation responses and benefit both physical and mental health. However, the specific benefits of diaphragmatic breathing on mental health remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of diaphragmatic breathing on cognition, affect, and cortisol responses to stress. Forty participants were randomly assigned to either a breathing intervention group (BIG) or a control group (CG). The BIG received intensive training for 20 sessions, implemented over 8 weeks, employing a real-time feedback device, and an average respiratory rate of 4 breaths/min, while the CG did not receive this treatment. All participants completed pre- and post-tests of sustained attention and affect. Additionally, pre-test and post-test salivary cortisol concentrations were determined in both groups. The findings suggested that the BIG showed a significant decrease in negative affect after intervention, compared to baseline. In the diaphragmatic breathing condition, there was a significant interaction effect of group by time on sustained attention, whereby the BIG showed significantly increased sustained attention after training, compared to baseline. There was a significant interaction effect of group and time in the diaphragmatic breathing condition on cortisol levels, whereby the BIG had a significantly lower cortisol level after training, while the CG showed no significant change in cortisol levels. In conclusion, diaphragmatic breathing could improve sustained attention, affect, and cortisol levels. This study provided evidence demonstrating the effect of diaphragmatic breathing, a mind-body practice, on mental function, from a health psychology approach, which has important implications for health promotion in healthy individuals.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874/fullbreathing techniquemental healthreal-time feedbackrelaxationsustained attention |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Xiao Ma Xiao Ma Zi-Qi Yue Zhu-Qing Gong Zhu-Qing Gong Hong Zhang Nai-Yue Duan Yu-Tong Shi Gao-Xia Wei Gao-Xia Wei You-Fa Li |
spellingShingle |
Xiao Ma Xiao Ma Zi-Qi Yue Zhu-Qing Gong Zhu-Qing Gong Hong Zhang Nai-Yue Duan Yu-Tong Shi Gao-Xia Wei Gao-Xia Wei You-Fa Li The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults Frontiers in Psychology breathing technique mental health real-time feedback relaxation sustained attention |
author_facet |
Xiao Ma Xiao Ma Zi-Qi Yue Zhu-Qing Gong Zhu-Qing Gong Hong Zhang Nai-Yue Duan Yu-Tong Shi Gao-Xia Wei Gao-Xia Wei You-Fa Li |
author_sort |
Xiao Ma |
title |
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults |
title_short |
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults |
title_full |
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults |
title_fullStr |
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults |
title_sort |
effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2017-06-01 |
description |
A growing number of empirical studies have revealed that diaphragmatic breathing may trigger body relaxation responses and benefit both physical and mental health. However, the specific benefits of diaphragmatic breathing on mental health remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of diaphragmatic breathing on cognition, affect, and cortisol responses to stress. Forty participants were randomly assigned to either a breathing intervention group (BIG) or a control group (CG). The BIG received intensive training for 20 sessions, implemented over 8 weeks, employing a real-time feedback device, and an average respiratory rate of 4 breaths/min, while the CG did not receive this treatment. All participants completed pre- and post-tests of sustained attention and affect. Additionally, pre-test and post-test salivary cortisol concentrations were determined in both groups. The findings suggested that the BIG showed a significant decrease in negative affect after intervention, compared to baseline. In the diaphragmatic breathing condition, there was a significant interaction effect of group by time on sustained attention, whereby the BIG showed significantly increased sustained attention after training, compared to baseline. There was a significant interaction effect of group and time in the diaphragmatic breathing condition on cortisol levels, whereby the BIG had a significantly lower cortisol level after training, while the CG showed no significant change in cortisol levels. In conclusion, diaphragmatic breathing could improve sustained attention, affect, and cortisol levels. This study provided evidence demonstrating the effect of diaphragmatic breathing, a mind-body practice, on mental function, from a health psychology approach, which has important implications for health promotion in healthy individuals. |
topic |
breathing technique mental health real-time feedback relaxation sustained attention |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874/full |
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