Psychological and physiological changes following a mindfulness-based intervention integrating breathing training and HRV biofeedback in adults with anxiety disorders
Anxiety scores improved after the combined program, an encouraging preliminary observation that needs controlled testing.
Lin YC, Chen CC, Lan YL.
Scientific Reports · Publication date: 2026-10-03
Added to site: 2026-10-05
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-73678-2
Published online October 3, 2026 as an accepted article subject to further editing. Added October 5, 2026.
- Modalities
- HRV biofeedback
- Clinical focus
- Anxiety, Mindfulness
- Population
- Adults with anxiety disorders
- Sample
- 30 completed
- Intervention / method
- Four weeks combining mindfulness, structured breathing and HRV biofeedback
- Comparator
- Own baseline; no control group
Clinician summary
State STAI decreased from 43.83 to 35.87; trait STAI from 51.27 to 45.37. Aggregated HRV comparisons favored post-session values, but mixed-effects models found no significant time or week-by-time effects.
How to interpret the findings
Cannot isolate biofeedback or establish causation. Repeated-measures HRV results were null. Abstract-only review cannot establish durability or safety.
Equipment and disclosures
Device details not verified from the available abstract.
Taiwan Adventist Hospital funding; authors declare no competing interests.
Related evidence
Compare findings from the same clinical area, including mixed results.
- The effect of heart rate variability biofeedback training on stress and anxiety: a meta-analysis. · Positive with limitations
- The effects of swLORETA Z-score neurofeedback for patients comorbid with major depressive disorder and anxiety symptoms. · Positive with limitations
- Effects of swLORETA Z-score neurofeedback in Z-coherence of the fronto-limbic circuit in patients with major depressive disorder. · Positive with limitations
- Regulation in acute stress experience through functional near-infrared spectroscopy neurofeedback of the prefrontal cortex. · Positive with limitations
- The Effects of Alpha-Theta EEG Biofeedback Training on Anxiety and Stress: Novel Use of Hair Cortisol Concentration as a Biomarker · Positive with limitations
Summary prepared with AI assistance. Source verification does not imply an independent replication or a clinician's endorsement. Read our review method.