Key result
In-drive mindfulness interventions significantly improved physiological parameters (decreased heart and breathing rates, increased RMSSD) during rural and suburban drives, but not in urban environments.
Why the study?
The real-world applicability and objective effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in improving physiological mindfulness-associated measures during everyday stressful situations like driving required further study.
Do in-drive mindfulness interventions improve mean heart rate, breathing rate, and RMSSD in drivers?
Do in-drive mindfulness interventions improve mean heart rate, breathing rate, and RMSSD in drivers?
In-drive mindfulness interventions can improve physiological markers of stress and parasympathetic dominance during rural and suburban driving, but appear ineffective in high-stress urban environments.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May support in-drive mindfulness for acute stress reduction; leaves open real-world safety benefits pending larger trials.
Background Mindfulness interventions, used to enhance attentional and emotional regulation in clinical settings, may benefit individuals in everyday stressful situations like driving. However, their real-world applicability and objective effectiveness in improving physiological mindfulness-associated measures need further study. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effects of in-drive mindfulness interventions on mean breathing rate ( Mean BR ), mean heart rate ( Mean HR ), and the heart rate variability metric of root mean square of successive RR interval differences ( RMSSD ) throughout various environments. Methods Eighteen participants performed mindfulness exercises while driving in rural, suburban, and urban environments under naturalistic conditions on public roads. Mean HR , Mean BR , and RMSSD were monitored and compared between control and intervention drives whilst adjusting for breath-altering instructions. Correlational analysis between Mean BR and RMSSD was conducted to investigate respiratory sinus arrhythmia influences. Results In rural environments (n = 14), statistically significant decreases in Mean HR , Mean BR , and increases in RMSSD were observed during intervention drives compared to control drives. In suburban environments (n = 15), statistically significant decreases in Mean BR and increases in RMSSD were found. No significant differences were observed in urban environments (n = 11). Correlations between Mean BR and RMSSD were found only during control drives in rural and suburban environments. No correlations were found in urban environments. Conclusions Mindfulness interventions improved physiological parameters during rural and suburban drives but were ineffective during urban drives. The decorrelation of Mean BR and RMSSD suggests effectiveness beyond mere breathing adjustments influence on RMSSD , indicating parasympathetic dominance during effective interventions. High mental load or stress may cause similar decoupling in urban drives.
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Ullmann et al. (2025) studied Everyday stressful situations (driving) (n=18). In-drive mindfulness interventions vs. Control drives was evaluated on Mean breathing rate, mean heart rate, and RMSSD. In-drive mindfulness interventions significantly improved physiological parameters (decreased heart and breathing rates, increased RMSSD) during rural and suburban drives, but not in urban environments.
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