A Mindful Alternative to Screen Time: The Short-Term Effects of a Breath-Focused Mindfulness Exercise vs. Unstructured Smartphone Screen Time on Heart Rate Variability and Relaxation
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology December 1, 2023 G. Feldman, Morgan Westine, Audrey Edelman et al.
A brief mindful breathing meditation increased heart rate variability and self-reported relaxation more than 15 minutes of unstructured smartphone use among 171 female university students. Mindfulness produced greater physiological relaxation, measured by high-frequency HRV and RMSSD, and greater increases in subjective relaxation over time. Unstructured screen time also increased relaxation, but less effectively. The findings suggest that using smartphones for guided meditation may promote well-being better than typical unstructured use.