Table 1.
Characteristics of the studies.
Study | N° Subjects | N° Controls | Mean Age | % Women | Country | Type of training | Type of Subjects | Instrument | Individual/group | Homework | Duration | Session | Effect size BT | Effect size WT |
* Kanji, White,& Ernst [16] | 30 | 29 | 64,5 | 36,7 | UK | Autogenic Training | Patients undergoing coronary angioplasty | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 2 Months | ND | 0,470 | 0,513 |
* Tomioka & Kubo [50] | 21 | 12 | 43,3 | 72,7 | Japan | Autogenic Training | Psychosomatic patients | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 8 Weeks | 8 | 0,318 | 0,399 |
* Pawlow, O'Neil & Malcolm [21] | 10 | 10 | 38 | 90 | USA | Progressive Relaxation | Night Eaters | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 1 Day | 1 | 1,358 | 1,305 |
* Yung, Fung, Chan, & Lau [24] | 17 | 30 | 37 | 100 | Hong Kong | Stretch Release Relaxation Group; | Nurses | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 4 Weeks | 4 | 0,397 | 0,210 |
* Yung, Fung, Chan, & Lau [24] | 18 | Cognitive Relaxation | 4 Weeks | 4 | 0,623 | 0,331 | ||||||||
*Roykulcharoen & Good [23] | 51 | 51 | 42 | 82,3 | Thailand | Systematic Relaxation | Patients underwent abdominal surgery | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | No | 1 Day | 1 | 0,176 | 0,371 |
* McComb & Clopton [51] | 26 | 24 | 19 | 100 | USA | Autogenic Training and Visualization | Pazients affected by bulimia nervosa | Stai – State anxiety | Group | No | 8 Weeks | 8 | 0,030 | 0,262 |
* Deckro et al. [52] | 46 | 44 | 24 | 60,2 | Relaxation response and other cognitive-behavioral techniques | Students | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 6 Weeks | 6 | 0,700 | 0,575 | |
* Pawlow & Jones [20] | 44 | 15 | 23,2 | 47,8 | USA | Progressive Relaxation | Students | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | No | 1 Day | 1 | 1,389 | 1,054 |
* Knowlton & Larkin [53] | 12 | 12 | 20,8 | 100 | USA | Progressive Relaxation, recommended voice | "Very anxious" students | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | No | 1 Day | 1 | 0,160 | 0,731 |
* Knowlton & Larkin [53] | 12 | Progressive Relaxation, conversational voice | 1 Day | 1 | 0,537 | 1,491 | ||||||||
* Knowlton & Larkin [53] | 12 | Systematic Relaxation | 1 Day | 1 | 0,497 | 0,929 | ||||||||
Wachholtz & Pargament [54] | 22 | 19,40 | 63,6 | USA | Unspecified Relaxation | Students | Stai – Trait anxiety | Individual | Yes | 2 Weeks | 2 | 0,188 | ||
Wachholtz & Pargament [54] | 25 | 18,90 | 76 | Spiritual Meditation | 2 Weeks | 2 | 0,679 | |||||||
Wachholtz & Pargament [54] | 21 | 19,10 | 61,9 | Secular Meditation | 2 Weeks | 2 | 0,211 | |||||||
* Bagheri-Nesami, Mohseni-Bandpei, & Azar [55] | 26 | 24 | 48 | 96 | Iran | Benson's Technique | Rheumatoid arthritis patients | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | Yes | 8 Weeks | 1 | 0,950 | 1,200 |
* Rasid &Parish [56] | 18 | 17 | 18 | 50 | USA | Behavioral Relaxation | High school students | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 2 Weeks | 4 | 0,900 | |
* Rasid &Parish [56] | 20 | 18 | 55 | Progressive Relaxation | Stai – State anxiety | Group | Yes | 2 Weeks | 4 | 0,900 | ||||
Wright, Courtney, & Crowther [57] | 18 | 40 | ND | Irland | Autogenic Training | Patients with cancer | Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale – HADS; | Group | Yes | 10 Weeks | 10 | 1,350 | ||
* Boyce, Talley, Balaam, Koloski, & Truman [58] | 19 | 25 | 42,3 | 81 | Australia | Progressive Relaxation | Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome | Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale – HADS; | Individual | Yes | 4 Weeks | 4 | 0,096 | 0,411 |
* Norton, Holm, & McSherry [59] | 17 | 16 | 20,3 | 70 | USA | Progressive Relaxation | Students | State-Trait Personality Inventory | Individual | Yes | 2 Weeks | 2 | 0,265 | 1,138 |
Carlbring, Ekselius, & Andersson [60] | 11 | 37,4 | 63 | Sweden | Applied relaxation | Pazients with panic | Beck Anxiety Inventory | Individual | Yes | 7 Months | 9 | 0,950 | ||
Muhlberger, Herrmann, Wiedemann, Ellgring [61] | 15 | 42,2 | 86,7 | Germany | Progressive Relaxation after the exposure of Virtual Reality | Flight phobics | Anxiety Expectancy Scale | Individual | No | 1 Weeks | 4 | 0,072 | ||
Viens, De Koninck, Mercier, St-Onge, & Lorrain [62] | 10 | 36,1 | 80 | Canada | Progressive Relaxation, management of anxiety | Subjects with sleep disorders | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | Yes | 9 Weeks | 1 | 0,865 | ||
* Davidson et al [63] | 25 | 16 | 36 | 76 | USA | Meditation | Employers | Stai – Trait anxiety | Group | Yes | 8 Weeks | 8 | 0,747 | 0,545 |
* Lukins, Davan, & Drummond [64] | 43 | 52 | 47 | 50,8 | Australia | Imaginative Relaxation | Patients undergoing magnetic resonance | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | No | 1 Day | 1 | 0,526 | 0,174 |
* Lukins, Davan, & Drummond [64] | 44 | Imaginative Relaxation with re-calling during MRI | 1 Day | 2 | 0,384 | 0,050 | ||||||||
* Cheung, Molassiotis, & Chang [17] | 8 | 10 | 48,8 | 37,5 | Hong Kong | Progressive Relaxation | Patients after stoma surgery | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | Yes | 1 Day | 2 | 0,479 | |
Kominars [65] | 76 | nd | nd | USA | Progressive Relaxation and Visualization | Patients alchol addicted | Stai – State anxiety | Group | nd | 3 Weeks | 6 | 1,010 | ||
Arntz [31] | 20 | 35,9 | 60 | Netherland | Applied relaxation | Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder | Stai – Trait anxiety | Individual | Yes | 12 Weeks | 12 | 0,369 | ||
Engel & Andersen [66] | 8 | 48,5 | 37,5 | Denmark | Guided Relaxation and Meditative Streching | Patients with chronic toxic encephalopathy | Stai – State anxiety | Group | No | 8 Weeks | 8 | 0,549 | ||
* Jablon, Naliboff, Gilmore, & Rosenthal [67] | 10 | 10 | 58,9 | 50 | USA | Progressive Relaxation and EMG biofeedback | Patients with type II diabetes | Stai – State anxiety | Individual | Yes | 4 Weeks | 4 | 0,254 | 0,412 |
* Clarl et al. [68] | 19 | 20 | 31,95 | 44 | UK | Applied relaxation | Patients with social phobia | Beck Anxiety Inventory | Individual | Yes | 14 Weeks | 14 | 0,949 | 1,029 |
* Lowe et al. [69] | 20 | 20 | 63,1 | 20 | Germany | Progressive Relaxation | Patients After Acute Myocardial Infarction | Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale | Group | No | 1 Week | 2 | 0,189 | -0,061 |
* = Studies with control group