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The Relationship Between Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Anxiety Through Music Intervention
Author(s) -
Tolley Annalise Julia,
Vick Robert Stephen
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.890.3
Subject(s) - anxiety , heart rate variability , intervention (counseling) , medicine , heart rate , anxiety score , clinical psychology , psychology , physical therapy , cardiology , psychiatry , blood pressure
Background Research shows that lower heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with multiple health risks, including early mortality, congestive heart failure and mental illness. Research on the relationship between HRV and anxiety has been inconclusive but should be studied, as HRV may be a noninvasive indicator of overall mental health. Music has been used as an inexpensive intervention method to significantly lower self‐reported anxiety in multiple populations. Objective To determine the strength of the possible relationship between anxiety and HRV with music intervention. Subjects and Methods A within‐subjects experimental design was used with undergraduate students (n=32). Self‐reported anxiety used STAI, followed by the collection of seven minutes of baseline EKG data. Seven minutes of pre‐selected, “relaxing” music was played (intervention) while physiological indices were again collected. The STAI was re‐administered. Results After music intervention, significant reduction in anxiety (p<0.001) and heart rate was demonstrated (p<0.01), with a significant increase in RR (p<0.01), SDRR (p<0.01), and pRR50 (p<0.01). No correlation was found between the change in anxiety and physiological indices (p=0.737). Conclusions Undergraduate students may benefit from music intervention, as music significantly improved self‐reported anxiety and physiological anxiety, as measured by STAI score and HRV, respectively. However, these improvements seemed to occur independently, thus decreasing the strength of the proposed relationship between HRV and anxiety in the literature. Elon University IRB #17‐083. Support or Funding Information Research supported by Elon University Undergraduate Research Program (URP) and Elon College Fellows (ECF) program. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .