OBJECTIVE Breathing exercises have been proposed as an effective intervention to improve subjective well-being and manage anxiety symptoms. As they are comparatively easy to learn and to implement, breathing exercises may be particularly beneficial for children. Although breathing exercises are ultimately supposed to provide salutary effects in individuals' everyday lives, immediate effects of breathing exercises in naturalistic contexts have received limited empirical attention. The purpose of this study was to examine immediate effects of slow-paced diaphragmatic breathing on negative affect as well as on relaxation in an ecologically valid setting. To that end, we conducted a micro-randomized trial in children's daily life. METHOD On each of 15 days, children (N = 171, aged 9-13 years, 54% female) were randomized to different conditions: performing a video-guided slow-paced diaphragmatic breathing exercise (experimental condition), watching a different video (active control condition), or a passive control condition. RESULTS The breathing exercise had no immediate effects on negative affect or relaxation compared to both control conditions. However, in situations when children reported higher levels of worries than usual, relaxation was higher when children performed the breathing exercise compared to the passive control condition. Compared to the active control condition, the breathing exercise did not result in higher levels of relaxation in situations when children worried more than normally. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight that context-specific factors can modulate the effectiveness of breathing exercises and should be taken into account to tailor interventions to individuals' needs.

中文翻译：

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慢节奏膈肌呼吸练习在儿童日常生活中的有效性：一项微观随机试验。


目的 呼吸练习被认为是改善主观幸福感和控制焦虑症状的有效干预措施。由于呼吸练习相对容易学习和实施，因此可能对儿童特别有益。尽管呼吸练习最终应该对个人的日常生活产生有益的影响，但在自然背景下呼吸练习的直接影响受到的实证关注有限。本研究的目的是检查慢节奏膈式呼吸对负面情绪以及在生态有效环境中放松的直接影响。为此，我们在儿童的日常生活中进行了一项微观随机试验。方法 每 15 天，儿童（N = 171，年龄 9-13 岁，54% 为女性）被随机分配到不同的条件下：进行视频引导的慢速横膈膜呼吸练习（实验条件）、观看不同的视频（主动控制条件），或被动控制条件。结果与两种对照条件相比，呼吸练习对负面情绪或放松没有立即影响。然而，在儿童报告的担忧程度高于平时的情况下，与被动控制条件相比，儿童进行呼吸练习时的放松程度更高。与主动控制条件相比，当孩子们比平时更加​​担心时，呼吸练习并没有带来更高程度的放松。结论 研究结果强调，特定环境因素可以调节呼吸练习的有效性，应考虑到根据个人需求制定干预措施。