The effectiveness of a physical relaxation technique in reducing anxiety / by James C. Miller.

120 Pages·2006·3.92 MB·English

by  Miller, James C.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PHYSICAL RELAXATION
TECHNIQUE I N REDUCING ANXIETY
by
James C. Miller
AeB.* Brown University* 19'73
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE
in the Department
of
Kinesiology
James C. Miller 1979
SIMON FRASER UhIVERSITY
May 1979
A l l rights reserved. This thesis may not be re-
produced in whole or in part, by photocopy
*oro ther means, without permission of the author.
APPROVAL
Name, James C. Killer
Degreet Master of Science
Title of Thesis: The Effectiveness of a Physical .
Relaxation Technique in Reducing
Anxiety.
Examining Committeet
Chairperson Eric Banister
t
John Dickinson
e n i o r Supervisor
Christopher Davis
Christopher Bolter
. hargsre t S,avage
External Examiner
Assistant Professor
Department of Kinesiology
Simon Fraser University
PART l AL COPYR 1 GHT L l CENSE
I hereby grant t o Simon Fraser University the right t o lend
my thesis, project or extended essay (the t i t l e of which is shown below)
t o users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and t o make partial or
single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the
library of any other university, or other educational institution, on
its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission
for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted
by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. I t is understood that copying
or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed
without my written permission.
-Tit-le o-f T hesis/Project/Extended Essay
Author:
(signature)
iii
The general aim of this study was to investigate the ef-
f ectiveness of a physical relaxation technique i n decreasing an-
xiety in a non-clinacal setting, The independent variable was
the relaxation technique designed to be taught to the aubjects.
The dependent variables were the measures of both physiological
and psychological parameters of anxiety.
130 undergraduates i n a Kinesiology course were adminis-
tered the Spielberger S tate-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI ) , The
twenty subjects with the highest anxiety-state scores participat-
ed in the study and were randomly divided into two groups of eq-
ual size, a treatment group and a control group. The treatment
group was taught to use the relaxation program designed by M i t -
chell (1977). Physiological Relaxation. The control group was in-
structed to sit quietly and attempt to relax.
Each subject met with the experimenter on three occasions
for two hours. During each of these sessions the treatment group
underwent two training periods for Physiological Relaxation while
the control group used the same periods of time to relax on their
.
Own
During these daily sessions pre- and post training measures
of forehead and trapezius EMG, heart rate, blood pressure, gal-
,
vanic skin response, and respiration rate were recorded from al-1
subjects, In addition, Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inven-
tory was administered to all subjects prior to their f i r s t meet-
ing ,with the experimenter and again immediately following their
final meeting.
iv
Significant changes across training periods were demon-
strated in a l l dependent variables with the exception of treat-
ment group EMG measures, The treatment group dispPayed signifi-
cantly lower EMG measures than did the control group after the
training periods, Although state and trait anxiety, galvanic
skin response, respiration rate, systolic blood pressure, and
heart rate values were also reduced after the training periods,
there were no significant differences evident between the treat-
ment and control groups,
The physiological changes support Benson's (1974) hypoth-
esis that the practice of a relaxation technique w i l l elicit a
"relaxation response". These changes also correlate well with
reductions on State and Trait anxiety scores as measured by
Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory,
Although the practice of Physiological Relaxation demon-
strated a more consistent and more substantial effect on the aut-
onomic nervous system, it failed to establish itself as signifi-
cantly superior in a l l respects t o simply sitting quietly in a
reclining chair and attempting to relax,
We dance 'round in a ring and suppose,
But the secret sits in the middle and knows,
-
Robert Frost
TABLE OF CONTENTS
.............................................
ABSTMCT iii
..................................
........
Drug Therapy 9
Psychophysi.o.l.o.g.i.c. .R.e.l.a.x.at.i.o.n. .T.e.c.h.n.i.qmu.e. ........1.1
Meditation 11
..............................
EMG Biofeedback. .................... 17
Systematic Desensitization. .................... 18
Progressive Relaxation... ................... 19
Physioligical Relaxation... 22
........................................
Method 25
Overview .o.f. .t.h.e. .S.t.u.d.y. . .de.s.i.g.n...^.......,......,.,a.,m.. .2.5.
Subject.s. .....~.............................25
.............
Procedure 26
Relaxation Technique.......... .......... 27
Psychological Measures of Anxiety 28
.....................................
.....................
Apparatus 30
........
Electromyography (EMG) 30
Galvanic Skin ~e.s.p.o.n.se.(.G.S.~.)..............*. .......... 33
Heart Rate (HR) .................,, 33
...............
Respiration Rate(R~)....
Systolic Blood Pressure (BP)
.................................
Introduction. .............................. 36
State Anxiety 36
..............................
Trait Anxiety ............ 39
Electromyographic Activity..... ....... 41
Galvanic Skin Response. .(.G.S.R.)............. ........... 44
Respiration Rate (RR) ............... 47
Systolic Blood Pressure (BP) 50
............................
Heart Rate (HR) 53
Introdu~tion.~...,.........~.............~
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory..,,,..,.,... .. . . ..
Electromyography (EMG),..,.,,,,.....
Galvanic Skin Response (GSR),..,.,....,...
Respiration Rate..~.,,...~...........ee...
Systolic Blood Press~re.,.~,.~,.~,.~......
Heart Rate................................
A. Samples of Data Measures Before Quanti-
fi~ation.......~....~.............~....~..
Be State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Self Ev-
aluation Questio~aire,..,..............~.
C, Site Selection of Physiological Meas-
ures~..............e.m....e.....e.~.......
Dm Text of Physiological Relaxation
Te~hique..........~..~~~.~..~.~.~...~....
E. Floor Plan of Laborat~ry,~.........~......
F. Raw Data..,........r........~..........e~~
P
LIST OF TABLES viii
Page
1. State Anxiety Presented Acroes Training
Peri~ds...........................~.......... 38
Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measure-
2.
ment Q$ $$ate Aaxi~fy......................... 38
3. Trait Anxiety Presented Across Training
Periods....................................... 40
4, Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measure-
ment of Trait Anxiety.,.....,................. 40
5. Electromyographic Activity Presented by Groups
as a Function of Training Periods............. 42
6, Electromyographic Activity Presented by Groups
as a Function of Training Periods Within Days, 42
7, Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measure-
ment of Electromyography..~,..,.............,. 43
8. Galvanic Skin Response Presented Across Train-
ing Periods................................... 45
9, Galvanic Skin Response Presented by Groups as
a Function of Training Periods Within Days.,.. 45
10. Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measure-
ment Galvanic Skin Resp~nse......~..~,.~...... 46
11, Respiration Rate Presented by Groups as a
Function of Training period^,......,..,^...... 48
.........................
12, Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measurement
of Respiration Rate.. 49
13, Systolic Blood Pressure Presented by Groups as
a Function of Training Periods........~,..,.., 51
14, Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measure-
ment of Blood Pres~ure......,...,........~.... 52
15. Heart Rate as a Function of Training Periods., 54
16. Analysis of Variance for Dependent Measure-
ment of Heart Ratea.........,.....,.........~. 55
LIST OF' FIGURES
@&E!t
1. A Model for Anxiety (Adapted from Levies
(1972) model for Psychosocially Mediated
Disea~e)...~.......~~~..~...~.........~~....
2. Subject Response to the Practice of Physi-
ological Rela~a~ion~,~,,......~~............