Comparison of heart rate biofeedback, false biofeedback, and systematic desensitization in reducing speech anxiety: Short- and long-term effectiveness

The present study assessed the comparative effectiveness of heart rate biofeedback (HRB) training, false HRB training, and systematic desensitization (SD) in reducing speech anxiety. Speech anxiety was assessed in subjects before, immediately following, and 1 month after they received their respective treatments. Results indicated that all three groups demonstrated a decrease in self-reported and overt motor components of anxiety during both posttreatment assessment periods. Physiological measures (HR and skin conductance), however, indicated that the HRB group was associated with less physiological responding during the posttreatment assessments of anxiety relative to the other two groups. These results again demonstrate that the three behavioral component measures of anxiety are not always highly correlated.