Table 1.

Reported studies concerning effects of autogenic training on mental disorders (categorized and sorted chronologically, from most recent to least recent).

Reported Study	Number of Studies	Number of Participants	Outcomes	Results
Anxiety disorders
de Rivera et al., 2021 [12]	1	75	The effectiveness of autogenic training (AT)	There was an increase in the practice of AT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Autogenic training was very useful for physical and psychological health and for a better understanding of others.
Ramirez-Garcia et al., 2020 [14]	A protocol for a systematic review	Randomized controlled trials to be identified	The efficacy of AT on psychological wellbeing (anxiety, distress, depression) in people with chronic physical health problems	Pending results.
Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020 [11]	1	44	Generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale	Jacobson’s progressive relaxation techniques, Schultz’s AT, abdominal relaxations, and visualizations were effective in lowering the COVID-19 anxiety levels of university students as an alternative to pharmacotherapy.
Seo and Kim, 2019 [15]	Systematic review: 21 meta-analysis: 11	85–327	Anxiety score	Autogenic training decreased anxiety score.
Aivazyan and Zaitsev, 2018 [16]	1	325	The effectiveness of AT	Autogenic training reduced anxiety, tension, negative feelings, stress sensitivity, and improved mood and activity levels in patients affected by chronic somatic diseases.
Bowden et al., 2012 [17]	1	153	“Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile” and hospital anxiety and depression scale	Autogenic training reduced anxiety.
Yurdakul et al., 2009 [18]	1	12	Autogenic training experience in anxiety	The cognitive changes reported have implications for anxiety treatments.
Manzoni et al., 2008 [19]	27	1014	Anxiety, psychometric questionnaires	There was consistent and significant efficacy of relaxation training in reducing anxiety.
Kircher et al., 2002 [20]	1	16	Effectiveness of the AT in cognitively impaired, frail elderly	Mentally impaired, frail elderly participants were able to learn the AT. Cognitive impairment was disadvantageous for successful participation.
Stetter and Kupper, 2002 [1]	60	>1500	Anxiety	Medium range positive effects of AT were found for anxiety disorders.
Ernst and Kanji, 2000 [21]	8	245	Anxiety, Spielberger’s state–Trait anxiety inventory	Autogenic training reduced stress and anxiety.
Sakai, 1997 [22]	1	55	The impact of AT on anxiety disorders	Twenty-eight patients with anxiety disorders (51%) were cured, fourteen (25%) much improved, eight (15%) improved, and five (9%) unchanged at the end of the treatment. Forty-two patients (76%) were assessed as having had successful treatment.
Mood disorders
Feruglio et al., 2022 [23]	1	72	Cooperativeness and emotional symptoms (self-reported temperament and character inventory; strengths and difficulties questionnaire for adolescents)	Both mindfulness-oriented meditation training and AT enhanced a cooperative attitude in adolescents and helped reduce their emotional problems.
Rucka and Talarowska, 2022 [24]	1	42	Attention efficiency determined by the perceptual speed index measured using the attention and perceptiveness test	A 15-min-long, one-time AT session improved the efficiency of attention and perceptiveness in people with depression.
Ramirez-Garcia et al., 2020 [25]	1	42	Emotion management, depressive symptoms, and quality of life	Adults living with human immunodeficiency virus reported better emotion management and improvements in depressive symptoms and quality of life following the AT intervention.
Seo and Kim, 2019 [15]	systematic review: 21 meta-analysis: 11	85–327	Depression score	Autogenic training decreased depression score.
Bowden et al., 2012 [17]	1	153	“Measure Your Medical Outcome Profile” and hospital anxiety and depression scale	Autogenic training reduced depression.
Goto et al., 2009 [26]	1	1	Self-rating depression scale, manifested anxiety scale	Depressive state was markedly alleviated following the AT.
Jorm et al., 2008 [27]	systematic review: 15 meta-analysis: 11	48–286	Depressive symptoms	Relaxation techniques (including the AT) were more effective at reducing self-rated depressive symptoms than no or minimal treatment.
Morgan and Jorm, 2008 [28]	2	189	Depressive symptoms	Depression symptoms in the AT group improved significantly more than in the control group, but significantly less than in the psychotherapy group.
Stetter and Kupper, 2002 [1]	60	>1500	Depression/dysthymia	Medium range positive effects of AT were found for mild-to-moderate depression/dysthymia.
Kircher et al., 1997 [29]	1	23	Psychopathological status: brief psychiatric rating scale, geriatric depression scale, the cognitive state (a mini-mental state examination)	Autogenic training was a useful component in psychotherapeutic and psychiatric therapy for elderly multimorbid in- and outpatients.
Schizophrenia and psychotic disorders
Motoda et al., 1969 [30]	1	30	Visually evoked responses	Recordings of electrical signals generated by the visual cortex in response to visual stimulation suggest the brain activity in schizophrenia may be stabilized by practicing AT.
Shibata, 1968 [31]	1	1	Limits of AT application to schizophrenia	The limits of AT application depend on the selection of schizophrenic patients. The patients in remission should be selected for AT.
Shibata and Motoda, 1967 [32]	1	65	Rehabilitation effects of AT on schizophrenic convalescent patients	All study participants progressed favorably during the SE. After proceeding on to meditation exercises, symptoms aggravated in several patients.
Trauma- and stressor-related disorders
Louvardi et al., 2021 [33]	4	188	The effect of stress management on stress levels measured using instruments or biochemical assessments	Progressive muscle relaxation might lead to a reduction of stress levels in persons with addictive behaviors, while no such evidence was found concerning guided imagery and AT.
Gordon et al., 2008 [34]	1	82	Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom scores (Harvard trauma questionnaire)	Postwar Kosovar adolescents with PTSD undergoing AT experienced a significant decrease in PTSD symptom scores that was maintained at 3-month follow-up.
Mitani et al., 2006 [35]	1	22	PTSD signs and symptoms (cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activity, impact of event scale—revised questionnaire)	Autogenic training ameliorated disturbances in cardiac autonomic nervous activity and improved self-reported psychological dysfunction secondary to PTSD (intrusion, avoidance, hyperarousal) in fire service workers with PTSD.
Jojic and Leposavic, 2005 [36]	1	31	Adjustment disorder indicators (arterial blood pressure, pulse rate, concentration of cholesterol and cortisol)	Autogenic training significantly decreased the values of physiological indicators of adjustment disorder and diminished the effects of stress in adolescents with adjustment disorder.
Jojic and Leposavic, 2005 [37]	1	35	Adjustment disorder indicators (arterial blood pressure, pulse rate, concentration of cholesterol and cortisol)	Autogenic training significantly decreased the values of physiological indicators of adjustment disorder and diminished the effects of stress in adults with adjustment disorder.
Other mental disorders
Litwic-Kaminska et al., 2022 [3]	1	22	Sleep quality (the Pittsburg sleep quality index), physiological stress reactions	Sleep quality significantly increased after two-week AT usage in experimental group.
Stanton et al., 2018 [38]	1	25	Genital sexual arousal, subjective sexual arousal, and perceived genital sensations	Autogenic training significantly improved acute subjective arousal and increased perceived genital sensations in premenopausal women with self-reported arousal concerns.
Bowden et al., 2012 [17]	1	153	Sleep questionnaires	Autogenic training improved sleep patterns.
Stetter and Kupper, 2002 [1]	60	>1500	Functional sleep disorders	Medium range positive effects of AT were found for functional sleep disorders.