Does a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention reduce cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity during acute stress in healthy individuals with elevated stress levels?
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) significantly reduces overall systolic and diastolic blood pressure and blunts blood pressure reactivity to acute stress in healthy individuals with elevated stress.
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine the effects of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention on cardiovascular and cortisol activity during acute stress. METHOD: Eighty-eight healthy community-dwelling individuals reporting elevated stress levels were randomly assigned to the MBSR protocol or a waitlist control group. Before and after the intervention period they participated in a laboratory stress protocol consisting of mental arithmetic and speech tasks. Laboratory measurements included continuous cardiovascular parameters (heart period, heart rate variability, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure SBP and DBP), and salivary cortisol. RESULTS: Compared to the control group and controlling for age, sex, body mass index, and beta-blockers, the MBSR group showed larger pre- to postintervention decreases in overall SBP (F(1, 58) = 4.99, p = .029, partial η² = .08) and DBP (F(1, 58) = 11.09, p = .002, partial η² = .16). In addition, the MBSR group exhibited smaller SBP and DBP stress-related changes from pre- to postintervention (F(2, 116) = 4.89, p = .012, partial η² = .08; F(2, 116) = 6.07, p = .007, partial η² = .10, respectively). No effects were obtained on other physiological measures. CONCLUSION: MBSR may help reducing blood pressure levels and blood pressure reactivity to stress.
Nyklíček et al. (Mon,) studied this question.