DefinePK

Abstract

Background: Stress-related psychophysiological diseases continue to place a heavy financial strain on health systems, making accessible and affordable therapies necessary. Empirical evidence has shown that both mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) and heart rate variability-biofeedback (HRV-BF) are effective in lowering stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these two workplace interventions’ efficacies in comparison to the control group.
Methods: A total of 75 healthy employees from the University of Karachi participated in a randomized controlled study in which they were randomly assigned (n = 25) to one of three groups: the control group, MBI, HRV-BF, or MBI. The study evaluated stress-related symptoms such as depression symptoms, psychological well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion, as well as stress-related psychophysiological parameters such as stress perception, coping mechanisms, HRV parameters, and cortisol levels.
Results: The findings revealed statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the control group, as well as between the HRV-BF and MBI groups. Overall stress decreased in both intervention groups, primarily with modest to medium effect sizes. However, research found that both mindfulness and biofeedback-based stress reduction therapies were more beneficial for people whose baseline stress levels were higher.
Conclusion: The results suggested that HRV-BF and MBI might be helpful, especially for people whose baseline stress levels are higher. This points to the necessity of more focused therapies, perhaps with more noticeable results, in which people are chosen according to their starting stress levels.