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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Respiratory variability and psychological well-being in schoolchildren
Godfried van den Wittenboer1, Kees van der Wolf, Jan van Dixhoorn
1University of Amsterdam.
Abstract:
Among the relations between respiration and psychological state, associations with respiratory variability have been contradictory. In this study, respiration was measured noninvasively in 162 children with a mean age of 11 years (from 9 to 13). They completed a battery of psychological tests. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM or LISREL) revealed a model that fit the data well (chi 2 = 88.201, df = 79, p = .224). In this model, respiratory variability was positively related to anger-in and negatively to negative fear of failure and neurotic complaints. Respiration rate was positively related to positive fear of failure, and duty cycle was positively related to the latent variable of negative affect. Variability in resting time components of respiration was higher among children with less fear of failure and fewer complaints. Therefore, respiratory variability need not necessarily be a sign of psychological dysfunctions, and interventions should not always impose a fixed breathing pattern.
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