Search

Worry is an important mediator in the relation between stressors and health. This pilot study examined whether a smartphone-based in time worry-reduction training was feasible and improved physiological health (i.e. increased heart rate variability [HRV]). A total of 26 high-worriers were randomised to an experimental or active-control condition (EC and CC respectively). Participants in both conditions registered emotions 5 times daily for a month. The EC additionally received worry-reduction training with mindfulness exercises. Primary outcomes were feasibility and HRV measured at baseline, after 2 weeks (halfway), and at 4 weeks (post-intervention). Both training conditions were feasible and well received. HRV increased in the EC and CC, but this increase did not differ between conditions. Preliminary findings suggest that both training conditions are feasible and might improve HRV, which is an important predictor of cardiovascular disease. This pilot study only provided preliminary evidence, but it laid the groundwork for future randomised controlled trials that ought to include more participants and a waitlist control group in order to get more definitive evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether worry is prospectively associated with somatic complaints and whether a worry reduction intervention can decrease these complaints. One hundred and seventy-one high school students (16–17  years old) kept a log of their worry duration and frequency for 6 days, of whom half were instructed to try to postpone worrying to a special 30-min worry period each day (‘postponers’). Somatic symptoms during ‘the last 3 days’ were assessed before and after the 6 days. At follow-up, postponers reported fewer complaints than controls, controlled for baseline. This reduction appeared to be mediated by worry duration, and pertained to, amongst others, lower back pain, neck pain, coughing/bronchitis, breathing difficulties and stomach pains. Thus, daily worry appears to be prospectively related to a broad set of somatic complaints, and its effect might be reversed by a simple intervention. Possible underlying mechanisms include prolonged physiological activity and illness-related perseverative cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]