Positive Emotion Correlates with Higher Heart Rate Variability in Healthy College Students: Implications for Improving Mental Health with Heart Rate Biofeedback Training

Abstract

Research demonstrates the negative relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and emotion, where lower HRV correlates with emotional and mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and more. However, little empirical work has examined the relationship between HRV and positive emotion. Adding evidence to the literature that high HRV correlates with positive emotions supports the utility of HRV biofeedback training to promote positive mental health states. Healthy undergraduate students (N = 16) self-reported emotions via the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Heart rate was recorded through three surface electrodes in individual 5-minute sessions using BIOPAC. HRV time-domain and frequency-domain parameters were extracted including the standard deviation of the normalized R-R interbeat intervals of the heart (SDNN), and power estimates of heartbeat rhythms including low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and the LF/HF ratio. Results revealed no significant differences in frequency domain measures of HRV but replicated previous research demonstrated significant negative correlations between STAI scores and the time-domain HRV measure of SDNN. Further, the present research found positive correlations between SDNN and happiness as measured by the OHQ, and positive emotion questions on the PANAS. These results extend the current literature to confirm that higher HRV correlates with higher positive emotions and happiness and support the utility of HRV biofeedback training as a non-invasive means of increasing happiness and positive mental health.

Keywords: addiction, anxiety, depression, happiness, HRV, PTSD, biofeedback

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