The effect of heart rate variability biofeedback training on mental health of pregnant and non-pregnant women: A randomized controlled trial

Judith Esi van der Zwan, Anja C. Huizink*, Paul M. Lehrer, Hans M. Koot, Wieke de Vente

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In this study, we examined the efficacy of heart rate variability (HRV)-biofeedback on stress and stress-related mental health problems in women. Furthermore, we examined whether the efficacy differed between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Fifty women (20 pregnant, 30 non-pregnant; mean age 31.6, SD = 5.9) were randomized into an intervention (n = 29) or a waitlist condition (n = 21). All participants completed questionnaires on stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep, and psychological well-being on three occasions with 6-week intervals. Women in the intervention condition received HRV-biofeedback training between assessment 1 and 2, and women in the waitlist condition received the intervention between assessment 2 and 3. The intervention consisted of a 5-week HRV-biofeedback training program with weekly 60–90 min. sessions and daily exercises at home. Results indicated a statistically significant beneficial effect of HRV-biofeedback on psychological well-being for all women, and an additional statistically significant beneficial effect on anxiety complaints for pregnant women. No significant effect was found for the other stress-related complaints. These findings support the use of HRV-biofeedback as a stress-reducing technique among women reporting stress and related complaints in clinical practice to improve their well-being. Furthermore, it supports the use of this technique for reducing anxiety during pregnancy.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1051
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume16
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Mar 2019

Bibliographical note

Published [online]: 23 March 2019

Funding

Department of Clinical, Neuro-and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] (J.E.v.d.Z.); [email protected] (H.M.K.) Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers—Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, 671 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA; [email protected] Research Institute of Child Development and Education, and Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1001NG Amsterdam, The Netherlands; [email protected] Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +31-20-5988732 Funding: This work was funded by Philips, Technology Foundation STW, and Nationaal Initiatief Hersenen en Cognitie NIHC under the Partnership programme Healthy Lifestyle Solutions, grant number 12001.

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • HRV-biofeedback
  • Psychological well-being
  • Sleep
  • Stress

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