Effects of Using Guided Deep Breathing Exercises in a Virtual Natural Environment to Reduce Stress during Pediatric Treatment

The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing as a Complementary Therapeutic Strategy in Stress of Children and Teenagers 6-18 Years Old

BACKGROUND

Few studies are reported on interventions that have been carried out in children and adolescents using diaphragmatic breathing (DB) together with methods like counseling, muscle relaxation, therapeutic exercise, and music therapy.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of the review is to evaluate the effectiveness of DB as complementary therapy in the stress of the pediatric population (6-18 years old).

METHODS

Detailed research was carried out in the current literature to find relevant studies published from 2010 to October 2024 in PubMed and Cochrane Library. Thirteen studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Nine studies involved obese and overweight pediatric populations and the other four involved pediatric patients.

RESULTS

The interventions comprised two 8-week studies in an obese pediatric population, seven studies in healthy children and adolescents with normal weight. The studies were based on DB, muscle relaxation, nutrition, counseling, music therapy, and slow breathing exercises. The participants in the intervention group improved in comparison to those in the control group in terms of stress and depression in most included studies, in terms of school performance in two studies, in terms of better family relationships in one study, and showed improvement in anthropometric indicators in two studies. In four studies that involved pediatric patients, stress and fear of medical procedures were reduced.

CONCLUSIONS

DB can effectively contribute on its own or in combination with other therapeutic methods to improving physiological and psychological indicators in the pediatric population. It is useful to integrate stress management programs that include DB training as clinical practice in primary healthcare and in school schedules for elementary and high-school students.

Case Report: Virtual natural environment solution helped a child cope with a painful procedure

Fear of needles is a common phenomenon that can affect the patient's ability to function and to seek medical help. Novel treatment practices are needed to help children cope with this fear. Based on user feedback, immersive virtual reality applications are effective when distracting the patient during a painful procedure. Better understanding of how virtual reality solutions affect the autonomic nervous system should be acquired. We present the case of a 12-year-old boy attending our study examining a novel virtual reality (VR) relaxation method (VirNE). The clinical study aims to determine if pain and anxiety can be relieved by relaxation that has been induced by a virtual natural environment and guided relaxation exercise-mediated autonomic nervous system stimulation. The patient was able to overcome his fear of needles with the help of the guided relaxation and found significant relief from the distress he was experiencing on his monthly visits to the hospital due to his long-term illness requiring repetitious intravenous cannulations.

Exploring the effect of different typical plant community on human stress reduction: a field experiment

Research has demonstrated the positive effect of natural environment on human restoration and well-being. Time spent in nature can often alleviate both physiological and psychological stress. However, few studies have discussed the environmental health effects of the nature's components and characteristics. Sixty volunteers were recruited and one manufactured environment and five different natural environments were randomly assigned to them, including coniferous forests (pure coniferous forest-PC and mixed coniferous forest-MC), broad-leaved forests (pure broad-leaved forest-PB and mixed broad-leaved forest-MB), and mixed forest (mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest-MCB). Each volunteer sat in a built or natural environment and looked around the environment for 15 min. Physiological (HR, HRV, BP, pulse rate and salivary cortisol) and psychological indicators (POMS and STAI) were used to evaluate the changes in their stress level. Results indicated a strong difference in HR, HRV, POMS and STAI between the built and natural environment, which showed that natural environment can lower the stress level. MC had the best effect on relieving physiological stress, whereas MCB is most successful in improving emotional state and reducing anxiety. Broad-leaved forest and mixed forest significantly affected the DBP and vigor level of the subjects, respectively. While coniferous forest did significantly increase the concentration of salivary cortisol in subjects. The study confirmed that compared to the built environment, the natural environment can relieve the human body's physical and psychological stress and negative emotions, while significantly increasing vitality. And different plant communities also have different effects on the physiological and psychological indicators of the subjects. These results will provide scientific basis for the construction and improvement of urban green space environment.