Effects of Biofeedback Training on Stress, Anxiety, and Mood Measurements in Street Runners: a Longitudinal-Experimental Study

• Autor(a) principal: Lima, Camila Carlos
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Padovani, Ricardo da Costa, Guerra, Ricardo Luís Fernandes, Viana, Milena de Barros
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Educação Física
• DOI: 10.37310/ref.v88i4.847
• Texto Completo: https://revistadeeducacaofisica.emnuvens.com.br/revista/article/view/847
• topic: biofeedback; estresse; ansiedade; variabilidade da frequência cardíaca; psicofisiologia; treinamento esportivo; biofeedback; stress; anxiety; sports; heart rate variability; psychophysiology; sports training

Introduction: Competitive stress can cause physiological and emotional changes that can interfere in various aspects of your athlete's life. Studies suggest that biofeedback training can contribute to improving sports performance and psychological well-being in athletes. Objective: To examine the effectiveness of psychophysiological training, using heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback equipment, in reducing psychological indicators (anxiety, mood changes and stress) among street runners. Methods: Experimental, longitudinal study, with a convenience sample, with the participation of 10 male (non-professional) street runners (over 10 km). The outcomes were symptoms of: pre-competitive anxiety and stress and mood states. In addition, two interviews were applied: one for pre-intervention assessment and another semi-structured for qualitative post-intervention analysis. The biofeedback training intervention took place over six weeks. To compare the pre and post-intervention results, Student's t test was used for paired samples with a 95% confidence level. Results: The results showed that the training significantly altered the measures of anger and stamina, but not the measures of competitive anxiety and stress, despite the fact that most of the participants showed greater consistency of HRV throughout the sessions. The qualitative analysis showed that, in the evaluation of the subjects, biofeedback training acted in a positive way, improving physical and psychological aspects. Conclusion: The results suggest that training with biofeedback reduced symptoms related to competitive stress, such as negative mood states.