Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

The objective of this study was to verify, in a sample of university students, whether a smartphone-based 478 breathing technique program is capable of improving mood and reducing levels of stress. Eight adult healthy subjects (aged between 25 and 30 years) volunteered for the study. The subjects were submitted in the morning and in the evening daily 478 breathing training for three minutes during one week without practicing any treatment. The psychological state of mood and stress was evaluated using Korean version of Global Assessment of Recent Stress scale (K-GARS), Korean version of Profile of Mood State (K-POMS), while the biological profile of the stress was detected by measuring the heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and the salivary cortisol. The results show an improvement of both subjective and objective parameters in all participants after one week training. The results obtained from the present research support the possibility that 478 breathing technique is capable to induce an effective improvement in mood and stress both in terms of self-reported evaluations (GRS and POMS) and of objective parameters, such as heart rate, HRV, and salivary cortisol levels.