What did this study find?
Fifty women, twenty of them pregnant, completed five weeks of heart rate variability biofeedback for stress. Psychological well-being improved significantly across the group, and pregnant participants showed an additional reduction in anxiety. The sample was small and drawn from a single setting, so the effect sizes should be treated as preliminary.
What are the details of this record?
- Full citation
- van der Zwan JE, Huizink AC, Lehrer PM, et al. The Effect of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training on Mental Health. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(6):1051.
- Journal
- Int J Environ Res Public Health
- Authors
- van der Zwan JE, Huizink AC, Lehrer PM, et al.
- Study design
- Controlled clinical study
- Sample size and population
- 50 women (20 pregnant, 30 non-pregnant)
- Evidence grade
- Grade B+ on the BioReg grading scale
- Reported findings
- Significant improvement in psychological well-being; additional anxiety reduction among pregnant participants.
- DOI
- No DOI recorded
- PubMed
- PMID 30909539
- Related categories
- HRV Biofeedback (category grade B+)
A positive PEMF study is not evidence for a specific device unless the signal parameters studied, frequency, intensity, waveform, and exposure duration, are reasonably comparable to what that device produces. Where this record does not list those parameters, the source report did not publish them. See the grading methodology. Library last reviewed 2026-08-27.