Abstract
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.
Highlights
Breathing practice, known as “diaphragmatic breathing” or “deep breathing,” is defined as an efficient integrative body–mind training for dealing with stress and psychosomatic conditions
The respiration frequency in diaphragmatic breathing was significantly less than that in resting breathing in the breathing intervention group (BIG), MD = 9.19, p = 0.000, but no similar result was detected in the control group (CG), MD = 2.50, p = 0.153. These results indicated that the diaphragmatic breathing intervention was effective in both the BIG and the CG, but a significant breathing frequency decrease was only observed in the BIG
A simple effect measurement was conducted and revealed that the BIG demonstrated a significant reduction in negative affect (NA) score after the intervention, MD = 2.55, p = 0.02, while no similar results were detected in the CG, MD = −0.15, p = 0.88
Summary
Known as “diaphragmatic breathing” or “deep breathing,” is defined as an efficient integrative body–mind training for dealing with stress and psychosomatic conditions. Some studies have investigated cognitive and emotional improvement simultaneously, and have indicated that a brief mental training could enhance sustained attention as well as reduce fatigue and anxiety (Zeidan et al, 2010). Studies orientated toward the physiological mechanism of breathing intervention effects have indicated a shared physiological basis underlying breathing, emotion, and cognition, involving the autonomic nervous system. EEG studies have suggested that regular breathing practice during yoga and meditation can increase β-activity in the left frontal, midline, and occipital brain regions (Bhatia et al, 2003; Snayder et al, 2006), which has been associated with enhanced cognitive performance, such as during attention, memory, and executive functions (Freeman et al, 1999). We hypothesized that an 8-weeks breathing training course would significantly improve cognitive performance, and reduce negative affect (NA) and physiological stress
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