Psychological and physiological changes following a mindfulness-based intervention integrating breathing training and HRV biofeedback in adults with anxiety disorders

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Anxiety disorders are associated with psychological dysregulation and autonomic imbalance. Although mindfulness-based interventions and breathing training have shown potential benefits for anxiety management, evidence regarding their integrated psychological and physiological outcomes remains limited. To examine psychological and physiological changes following a four-week mindfulness-based intervention integrating structured breathing training and HRV biofeedback in adults with anxiety disorders. A quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was employed. Thirty adults with anxiety disorders completed a four-week intervention. Anxiety was assessed using the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and heart rate variability (HRV; RMSSD and SDNN) was assessed immediately before and after each weekly session. Paired-samples t tests examined aggregated pre–post changes, and linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze repeated HRV measurements across the four intervention sessions. State anxiety decreased from 43.83 to 35.87 (− 18.2%), and trait anxiety decreased from 51.27 to 45.37 (− 11.5%), with significant pre–post reductions in both measures ( p ≤ .001). Aggregated mean post-session RMSSD and SDNN values were significantly higher than the corresponding mean pre-session values (both p < .001). However, linear mixed-effects models showed no significant main effect of time or Week × Time interaction for either RMSSD or SDNN (all p > .05). The intervention was associated with significant pre–post reductions in state and trait anxiety. Although aggregated HRV measures showed significant pre–post differences, repeated-measures analyses did not demonstrate consistent changes in HRV across the four sessions. These preliminary findings warrant confirmation in adequately powered randomized controlled trials.