STATE ANXIETY, MINDFULNESS AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY DYNAMICS IN HEALTHY ADULTS

Abstract

Background India is currently facing disorders in lifestyle, and resulting physical, mental, and social disharmony such anxiety, stress, worries, lack of awareness, variations in the heart rate. The epidemiological studies shows a hike from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases indicating that the adults are more prone for anxiety related, mindfulness related and heart rate related issues. Introduction Mindfulness has been conceptualized as the process of bringing attention and awareness to objects within the experience of the present moment with a non-judgmental and non-evaluative acceptance and openness. State anxiety (SA) can be conceptualized as “a state in which an individual is unable to instigate a clear pattern of behavior to remove or alter the event/object/interpretation that is threatening an existing goal. Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to beat to beat alterations in the heart rate and is associated with cardiac autonomic regulation. Correlational study design was used. Eighty three subjects were assessed using state anxiety and mindfulness questionnaire and heart rate variability measurement. There was no intervention, since our objective was to understand correlation between mindfulness, state anxiety and heart rate variability. Result: SMAAS, STAI and HRV were assessed to understand the correlation between these three variables. Results showed significant high negative correlation between SMAAS and STAI. STAI and LF of HRV is positively correlated whereas SMAAS and LF is negatively correlated. There was a significant moderate negative correlation between STAI and HF, whereas SMAAS is positively correlated with HF. And also, there was a significant moderate positive correlation between STAI and LF/HF ratio and negative correlation between SMAAS and LF/HF ratio. Conclusion: There was a significant moderate negative correlation between STAI and, whereas SMAAS is positively correlated with HF. And also, there was a significant moderate positive correlation between STAI and LF/HF ratio and negative correlation between SMAAS and LF/HF ratio.