Combining Biofeedback with Stress Management Interventions: A Systematic Review of Physiological and Psychological Effects

Current mental healthcare systems experience difficulties meeting the challenges of a growing population with elevated stress symptoms. Outpatient stress management interventions have already proven to be effective in routine care and recent technological advances now allow to expand such interventions, for example by adding a physiological component like biofeedback. Adding biofeedback to stress management interventions appears promising, but there is a lack of insight into the general conceptualization and evaluation of the resulting interventions, both in relation to psychological and physiological stress indicators. A comprehensive literature search was performed to investigate stress management interventions with a biofeedback component. This systematic review provides an overview of these interventions and explores to what extent they can improve both physiological and psychological indicators of stress. Fourteen RCTs were included. A large diversity was observed in intervention design and effectiveness. Nevertheless, there is preliminary evidence that the use of biofeedback can improve both physiological and psychological indicators of stress. Biofeedback could provide an accessible and low-cost addition to stress interventions. Further research into the effectiveness of different components of biofeedback interventions is needed.

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