Automated suggestive brief relaxation technique: A widening study of its effectiveness in a university sample

To investigate the effectiveness of the Automated Suggestive Brief Relaxation of AIRE (a cognitive behavioural approach for smoking cessation) we conducted a study on two groups: control (CG) and experimental (EG), with pre/post measures. The independent variable had two values: rest and relaxation. In order to assess the main effects we used two dependent variables: state anxiety (SA) and heart rate (HR). Participants were 138 undergraduate students, with an average age of 21.29 years, and 79.7% women. Significant differences were found in SA but not in HR between EG and CG. There was a significant reduction in both pre/post dependent variables in both the EG and CG, though less in the latter. A larger number of participants obtained greater benefits under the relaxation versus the resting condition. We conclude that the Automated Brief Relaxation technique is efficacious for reducing state anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)