Exploring the Effects of a Brief Biofeedback Breathing Session Delivered Through the BioBase App in Facilitating Employee Stress Recovery: Randomized Experimental Study

Abstract

Background Recovery from stress is a predictive factor for cardiovascular health, and heart rate variability (HRV) is suggested to be an index of how well people physiologically recover from stress. Biofeedback and mindfulness interventions that include guided breathing have been shown to be effective in increasing HRV and facilitating stress recovery. Objective This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a brief app-based breathing intervention (BioBase) in enhancing physiological recovery among employees who were induced to cognitive and emotional stress. Methods In total, we recruited 75 full-time employees. Interbeat (RR) intervals were recorded continuously for 5 min at baseline and during cognitive and emotional stress induction. The session ended with a 5-min recovery period during which participants were randomly allocated into 3 conditions: app-based breathing (BioBase), mindfulness body scan, or control. Subjective tension was assessed at the end of each period. Results Subjective tension significantly increased following stress induction. HRV significantly decreased following the stress period. In the recovery phase, the root mean square of successive RR interval differences (P=.002), the percentage of successive RR intervals that differed by >50 ms (P=.008), and high frequency (P=.01) were significantly higher in the BioBase breathing condition than in the mindfulness body scan and the control groups. Conclusions Biofeedback breathing interventions digitally delivered through a commercially available app can be effective in facilitating stress recovery among employees. These findings contribute to the mobile health literature on the beneficial effects of brief app-based breathing interventions on employees’ cardiovascular health.

A Literature Review to Identify Effective Web- and App-Based mHealth Interventions for Stress Management at Work

“…The focus of the web-based program “mindfulness and compassion with self and others” offers mindfulness exercises as well as compassion-focused exercises regarding loving-kindness and exercises to practice compassion with self and others (Eriksson et al, 2018). The apps “Stress free now” and “BioBase” only comprise breathing training modules based on mindfulness stress reduction (Chelidoni et al, 2020; Smith et al, 2020). “Stress free now” can additionally be combined with a wearable device that provides real-time notifications on significant and sustained changes of respiratory patterns (Smith et al, 2020).…”

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Enhancing Inhibitory Control in Older Adults: A Biofeedback Study

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