Promotionsstipendien II/2020

Thema: "lnfluence of a short bio-feedback intervention on physiological stress-resonance in healthy couples"

Zusammenfasung:
Humans display the tendency to physiologically resonate with others' stress responses - resulting in synchronous hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system activation. This phenomenon has been termed stress resonance. Since excessive activation of neurobiological stress systems can predispose an individual to adverse health outcomes, it is important to find tools to decouple · affected individuals from others' stress experiences. In this interventional study we will investigate to which extent the use of a breathing technique learned via biofeedback training can reduce an observer's physiological stress resonance while watching his or her partner, the "target", undergo a standardized stress paradigm. We will examine 80 couple dyads which are randomly distributed to one control and one biofeedback breathing group. Before, during and after the stress test, a range of psychological-emotional and biological stress markers will be assessed simultaneously in observers and targets. We expect the observers of the biofeedback group to have a more upregulated parasympathetic tone and therefore reduced acute physiological stress resonance compared to the observers of the control group.