Paced Respiration as a Technique for the Modification of Autonomic Response to Stress

This study was designed to test the efficacy of a paced respiration procedure in reducing subjects' reactions to real and anticipated aversive events. The main hypothesis was that subjects who were taught how to pace their respiration at a slower than normal rate in accordance with a specified signal would show decreased autonomic responsiveness to an electric shock and its anticipation. Three groups of 13 subjects were employed. A Respiration Control group was compared with a group which received all the same stimuli but were instructed merely to pay attention to them without any respiration instructions (Attention Control group) and with a control group for whom the stimuli were or no significance. Results for electrodermal measurement, but not for cardiac measurement, indicated that the learning of a short series of breathing exercises can have significant facilitative effects on reducing autonomic responsivity to a stressful stimulus.