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Relationship Between Heart Rate Variability and Perceived Stress in Healthy College‐Aged Adults
Author(s) -
Lombardo Danielle Michelle,
Vick Robert Stephen
Publication year - 2019
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.2019.33.1_supplement.741.2
Subject(s) - heart rate variability , heartbeat , heart rate , medicine , autonomic nervous system , autonomic function , psychology , audiology , cardiology , blood pressure , computer science , computer security
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measurement of how well the heart can adapt to change and is a function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). HRV is determined by measuring the variations between each heartbeat; sympathetic input decreases HRV (less beat‐to‐beat variation) while parasympathetic input increases HRV (more beat‐to‐beat variation). We examined the relationship of HRV to the perceived amount of self‐reported stress in healthy college‐aged students (n=11) once a week over a 5‐week period (Elon IRB 17‐222). This population routinely vacillate between stressed and non‐stressed states. Students completed a Perceived Stress Scale followed by a 5 min ECG. The ECG was analyzed using AD Instruments software (Colorado Springs, CO). HRV data was generated for each individual and was compared to the perceived stress data. Chi‐square test of independence concluded that HRV and perceived stress are related factors (p= 0.03). These results indicate that HRV could be a valuable biological indicator of stress levels in young healthy individuals; however, multiple regression analysis of each individual generated R squared values ranging from 0.05–0.92 indicating a large degree of variability. Future research would examine the use of HRV as a biomarker for stress, as well as the lasting effects of stress on HRV. Support or Funding Information Elon Undergraduate Research Program This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .