Key result
A brief slow-paced breathing intervention mitigated the negative effects of perceived stress on decision-making under uncertainty in college students (interaction β = 0.858, p = 0.034).
Why the study?
While interventions like slow-paced breathing reduce stress and enhance executive functioning, their effects on decision-making under uncertainty remain poorly understood.
Does a brief slow-paced breathing intervention improve decision-making under uncertainty in college students?
RCT (n=216)
randomized
Does a brief slow-paced breathing intervention improve decision-making under uncertainty in college students?
Effect estimate: β 0.858
p-value: p=0.034
A brief slow-paced breathing intervention can mitigate the negative effects of perceived stress on decision-making under uncertainty in college students.
Brief SPB may modulate decision-making under uncertainty via mental health factors; leaves open whether effects warrant clinical use or replication.
Decision-making is a critical cognitive function that can be significantly impacted by stress and other mental health factors. While interventions such as slow-paced breathing (SPB) have been shown to reduce stress and enhance executive functioning, their effects on decision-making under uncertainty remain poorly understood. This study examined the effect of a brief SPB intervention on Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance and assessed whether individual differences in mental health symptoms differentially impacted such effects. College students (n = 216) were randomized into an SPB intervention or mind-wandering control condition. Participants completed mental health and state surveys, the assigned manipulation, and the IGT. Expectancy valence and prospect valence learning (PVL) computational models were fit to the data to assess specific decision-making strategies. Mixed ANOVA results showed that the SPB intervention reduced self-reported stress and arousal (ps < 0.05). Critically, regression results demonstrated a significant interaction between condition and perceived stress for IGT performance (β = 0.858, p = 0.034) and the PVL model recency (β = -0.507, p = 0.037) and consistency (β = 0.638, p = 0.010) parameters. This key finding revealed that higher perceived stress was associated with worse decision-making in the control but better decision-making in the SPB intervention. The control's IGT data were best fit by higher recency and lower choice consistency parameter values than the SPB condition. Higher stress in the control condition was linked to more random, short-sighted choices, while SPB mitigated these suboptimal strategies. This study is among the first to demonstrate that perceived stress impairs decision-making in college students, but a brief slow-paced breathing intervention can mitigate these negative effects.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Byrne et al. (2025) conducted an RCT in Stress and decision-making under uncertainty (n=216). Slow-paced breathing (SPB) vs. Mind-wandering control was evaluated on Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance (β 0.858, p=0.034). A brief slow-paced breathing intervention mitigated the negative effects of perceived stress on decision-making under uncertainty in college students (interaction β = 0.858, p = 0.034).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: