The role of deep breathing on stress

The objective of the present study was to verify, in a sample of university students,whether a relaxing technique called deep breathing (stress Intervention Functional IFA)is capable to improve the mood and to reduce the levels of stress. Thirty-eight adulthealthy subjects (aged between 18 and 28 year) volunteered the study. They wererandomly divided in two groups, the Experimental Group (N=19) and the Control Group(N=19). The subjects of the Experimental Group were submitted, once per week, to 10treatment's sessions of Anti-stress Protocol, each lasting 90 minutes, whereas subjectsof the Control Group sat 10 times for 90 minutes, once per week, without practicingany treatment. The psychological state of mood and stress was evaluated by usingMeasurement of Psychological Stress (MSP) and Profile of Mood State (POMS), whileand the biological profile of the stress was detected by measuring the heart rate andthe salivary cortisol. The results obtained from the present research support thepossibility that deep breathing technique is capable to induce an effective improvementin mood and stress both in terms of self-reported evaluations (MPS and POMS) and ofobjective parameters such as heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. No statisticallysignificant difference was found between men and women.