ArticleApplied psychophysiology and biofeedback2025
Comparing the Effects of Square, 4-7-8, and 6 Breaths-per-Minute Breathing Conditions on Heart Rate Variability, CO
Article in Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials Evaluating Box Breathing for Stress, Autonomic, and Clinical Outcomes.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2026Review
- The Impact of Modifying 3D Environments: The Role of Presence in VR Breathing Exercises.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Square and 4-7-8 breathing are popularly promoted by psychotherapists but have little empirical support. We hypothesized that breathing at 6 breaths per minute (bpm) would improve HRV, reduce blood pressure, and improve mood more than either square or 4-7-8 breathing. We also hypothesized square and 4-7-8 breathing would increase end-tidal CO
Indexed as
Identifiers
39864026What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.