TAP reading note: Simply breathing anxiety away? A pilot, just-in-time ecological momentary intervention study of one-minute cyclic sighing versus box breathing as tools for acute anxiety reduction and attention promotion in real life
Both exercises were associated with less state anxiety than passive control at short follow-up. Box breathing reduced inhibition errors, while both exercises slowed responses. The anxiety comparison did not establish superiority of one exercise.
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What the study found
Both exercises were associated with less state anxiety than passive control at short follow-up. Box breathing reduced inhibition errors, while both exercises slowed responses. The anxiety comparison did not establish superiority of one exercise.
Scope & limitations
47 university students, 43 female; mean age 21.09 years. Attention analyses included 44.
Small, mostly female student sample; self-reported adherence and expectations may influence findings. No physiological outcomes or long-term effects were measured.
Population & sample
47 university students, 43 female; mean age 21.09 years. Attention analyses included 44.
Exposure or intervention
Within-person, randomly ordered everyday episodes: approximately one-minute cyclic sighing, box breathing or passive control.
Outcomes
State anxiety and smartphone attention performance.
Time frame
Post-assessment triggered five minutes after the initial anxiety questionnaire.
Research funding
Postdoctoral Research Budget, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt.
Research conflicts of interest
Authors reported no potential conflict of interest.
Reading scope
University-hosted published full text: methods, results, limitations and declarations. Supplementary videos and preregistration were not audited.
References
Publication record
TAP-RDN-0078 · v1.0 · English
Author: TAP Editorial Team ·
The Allostasis Project is founded and supported by Resilio.
Record for v1.0 · Updated
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Under the editorial responsibility of the TAP Editorial Team, this publication used AI assistance for content organization and editing.
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Captured: 2026-11-13T04:08:26.789Z
- v1.0 · 2026-11-13