The Impact of a Technology-Assisted, Two-Month Breathing Exercise Intervention on Daily Affect, Weekly Stress and Examinational Stress

Breathing exercises are a low-cost strategy for mitigating daily stress, yet their enhancement via haptic biofeedback devices remains under-explored. These devices may facilitate adaptive breathing by personalizing rhythms via providing haptic cues based on heart rate, blood oxygenation and heart rate variability. We conducted a 2-month longitudinal trial with 62 healthy participants (Mage=26.9±8.1 years; 81% female) to test whether a haptic breath pacer ("Moonbird") augments the stress-reducing effects of breathing exercises. Participants were randomized to: (1) haptic feedback + app, (2) app-only, or (3) a no-exercise control. Ecological Momentary Assessment tracked daily affect (valence/arousal) and weekly stress. Students (n=45) also reported pre-examination stress. Between-subjects analyses revealed no condition effects on measured outcomes. However, within-subjects analyses showed that participants who felt higher arousal and valence but performed their breathing exercises felt a significant reduction in arousal and increase of valence on the following day. In the haptic group, these effects were moderated by user experience, indicating that benefits are contingent on device usability. Finally, highly stressed students who performed more exercises reported lower examination stress at the end of the semester, irrespective of their assigned condition.