The use of heart rate variability (HRV) biomarkers in the identification of anger in adults

Abstract Background Undoubtedly, the existence of accurate measurement tools can be an important step in the direction of early diagnosis of problems related to emotions and emotional dysregulation. Objective I n the present study, we tried to identify the emotion of anger in people using one of the biomarkers called heart rate variability (HRV). In this way, the diagnostic accuracy of five subscales related to heart rate, i.e. HR, RR, HF, LF and LFtoHF, was investigated among subjects with high anger and low anger. Method The study is descriptive (exploratory) and quantitative analysis. The current research population includes all adults (age range 20–45 years selected based on research literature) living in Tehran. The statistical sample of the current research, which was selected using the available sampling method based on the entry and exit criteria, was 100 people who, after the initial review of the data obtained from their heart rate sensor and preparation for entering the analysis stage, due to insufficient recording time and Lack of accurate recording of heart rate eliminated 24 of them and the remaining sample in the present study was 76. The instrument of the current research consists of two parts: Panas positive and negative emotions scale and BVP sensor. All analyzes related to descriptive statistics, t table of two independent groups were performed by SPSS software. In addition, ROC analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed by Medcalc software. Results Preliminary studies on the difference in the mean scores of the two groups of people with high and low anger in five scales HR, RR, HF, LF and LFtoHF showed that the difference in the mean scores of the two groups in the HR scale (at a significant level of less than 0.05) and RR (at a significance level of less than 0.001) is statistically significant. In both scales, the average scores of people with high anger were higher than the average scores of people with low anger. Among the five HR, RR, HF, LF and LFtoHF scales, the RR scale had the highest purity index (= 0.71). This scale performed significantly better than other HR, HF, LF and LFtoHF scales. Conclusion The results of this study can make the use of biological indicators more prominent in identifying positive and negative emotions.