Low heart rate variability (HRV) characterizes several medical and psychological diseases. HRV biofeedback is a newly developed approach that may have some use for treating the array of disorders in which HRV is relatively low. This review critically appraises evidence for the effectiveness of HRV and related biofeedback across 14 studies in improving (1) HRV and baroreflex outcomes and (2) clinical outcomes. Results revealed that HRV biofeedback consistently effectuates acute improvements during biofeedback practice, whereas the presence of short-term and long-term carry-over effects is less clear. Some evidence suggests HRV biofeedback may result in long-term carry-over effects on baroreflex gain, which is an area most promising for future investigations. On the other hand, concerning clinical outcomes, there is ample evidence attesting to efficacy of HRV biofeedback. However, because clinical and physiological outcomes do not improve concurrently in all cases, the mechanism by which HRV biofeedback results in salutary effects in unclear. Considerations for the field in addressing shortcomings of the reviewed studies and advancing understanding of the way in which HRV biofeedback may improve physiological and clinical outcomes are offered in light of the reviewed evidence.

To investigate the relation between forgiveness and apology as they relate to cardiovascular reactivity and recovery, 29 men and 50 women were exposed to an interpersonal transgression (i.e., verbal harassment) while performing a serial subtraction task. Participants were categorized into high and low forgiveness groups based on scores on the forgiving personality scale. Following the task, approximately half of the participants received an apology from the experimenter for his/her comments during the task. Although no group differences in cardiovascular reactivity were observed during the serial subtraction task, persons high in forgiveness displayed more rapid diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure recovery than persons low in forgiveness. In response to the apology, participants displayed greater high frequency heart rate variability recovery compared to those who did not receive an apology. A significant apology x sex interaction was observed for diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial blood pressure. Women who received an apology exhibited faster recovery from the transgression than women who did not receive an apology. In contrast, men who received an apology exhibited delayed recovery from the transgression compared to men who did not receive an apology. These results indicate that there are potentially healthful benefits to forgiveness and apology, but the relation is influenced by situation and by sex.

We tested the hypothesis that less effective responses during a cognitive challenge would relate to higher levels of self-reported rumination in children. The sample was 100 children (55 boys, 45 girls), aged 7 – 14 years. A portion (n = 65) was at high risk for depression due to having a parent with a childhood-onset mood disorder, and 35 were a low-risk comparison group. Using an impossible puzzle task, we assessed children’s responses following failure across several domains: emotions (expressed anger, sadness, and negative self-statements), performance (being off-task, the time to solve subsequent puzzles, and the number solved), and physiology (heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia). Results indicated that making negative self-blaming statements during the solvable puzzles and taking more time to solve the puzzles were associated with higher levels of self-reported rumination. Our findings advance the understanding of potential correlates of children’s tendency to ruminate and may have implications for children’s performance on cognitive tasks.

This study aimed to examine the role of family environment upon responses to interpersonal conflict in young adulthood, and to determine whether response patterns differed between men and women. Behavioral, affective, and cardiovascular responses of 17 young adults from families rated extreme (EXT) on scales of cohesion and flexibility were compared with those of 21 young adults from balanced (BAL) families. Participants engaged in 2 role‐play conflicts, 1 with a male confederate and 1 with a female confederate. Measures of positive and negative verbal and nonverbal behaviors, self‐reported anxiety and anger, and heart rate and blood pressure were obtained. Results showed EXT participants exhibited more negative verbal and less positive verbal behavior during both interactions than BAL participants. EXT men exhibited greater DBP, state anger, and negative nonverbal responses than BAL men, findings not observed for women. These findings indicate that exposure to a negative family environment influences how young adult men respond to interpersonal confrontation more than young adult women.

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