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

Abstract

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.