Find your rhythm and regulate: Breath-synced vibration feedback during breath-focused mindfulness reduces respiration variability in trauma-exposed adults.
Timothy J Mcdermott, Greg J Siegle, Alfonsina Guelfo, Kayla Huynh, Maya C Karkare, Rebecca Krawczak, Amanda Johnston, Aziz Elbasheir, Travis M Fulton, Jacob Semerod, Divya Jagadeesh, Emma C Lathan, Robert T Krafty, Negar Fani
Journal of anxiety disorders June 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2025.103008 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA clinical trial tested whether adding vibration to breath-focused mindfulness meditation (VABF) reduces respiration rate or variability in trauma-exposed adults with dissociation. 128 participants were randomly assigned to VABF, breath-focus only, vibration only, or open awareness. VABF decreased respiration variability across visits, while all other interventions increased it. Respiration variability was positively associated with anxiety and anger ratings. The findings suggest respiration variability is a meaningful metric for examining regulatory processes and is modifiable through VABF, which holds promise as an intervention for trauma-exposed populations.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 128 |
| Population | Trauma-exposed adults with elevated dissociation |
| Interventions | Vibration-augmented breath-focused mindfulness Breath-focus only Vibration only Open awareness |
| Topics | Anxiety |
| Keywords | Autonomic Dissociation Physiology Regulation |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key finding | Vibration-augmented breath-focused mindfulness decreased respiration variability across visits, while other interventions increased it. |
Abstract
Stress and anxiety are associated with increased autonomic arousal, including altered respiration. Breath-focused mindfulness meditation can reduce stress and anxiety, but trauma-exposed adults with dissociation have difficulty engaging in this practice. Our ongoing clinical trial examines if vibration-augmented breath-focused mindfulness (VABF) can improve outcomes and increase engagement. Here, we tested if VABF reduces respiration rate (RR) or respiration variability (RV), and examined associations between RR, RV, and emotion ratings. 128 trauma-exposed adults (mean age = 30.21 years) with elevated dissociation volunteered and completed at least 50 % of intervention visits. Participants were randomized to one of four mindfulness meditation interventions: VABF (n = 34); breath-focus only (n = 33); vibration only (n = 34); open awareness (no vibration or breath-focus, n = 27). Results from linear mixed-effects models showed that VABF decreased RV across visits while all the other interventions showed increased RV across visits (p = .008; ηp2 = .014), and RV was positively associated with both anxiety and anger ratings (ps .125). Findings suggest RV is a meaningful metric for examining regulatory processes in clinical populations with elevated autonomic arousal and negative emotionality. They also show that RV is modifiable through VABF, which holds significant promise as an intervention to improve regulatory processes in trauma-exposed populations.