Table 2.
Between-group analyses on levels of biomarkers.
| Outcomes | ABCT (n = 19) | Relaxation (n = 15) | Mann-Whitney U test | RM ANOVA | ANCOVA | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mn (SD) | Δ% | Mn (SD) | Δ% | Z | p | F (df) | p | ƞ 2 | F (df) | p | ƞ 2 | |
| BDNF (ng/ml) | ||||||||||||
| Pre | 23.03 (6.65) | 19.78 (6.89) | ||||||||||
| Post | 16.34 (5.02) | −29.1 | 22.80 (4.69) | 15.2 | −3.94 | <0001 | 24.68(1,32) | <0001 | 0.44 | 28.81(1,31) | <0001 | 0.48 |
| GI composite* | ||||||||||||
| Pre | 3.70 (1.40) | 3.56 (1.39) | ||||||||||
| Post | 3.12 (1.18) | −15.7 | 3.75 (1.20) | 5.3 | −2.34 | 0.019 | 5.29(1,32) | 0.028 | 0.14 | 6.28(1,31) | 0.018 | 0.17 |
| CRP (pg/ml) | ||||||||||||
| Pre | 5.60 (7.95) | 3.46 (4.42) | ||||||||||
| Post | 2.89 (2.56) | −48.4 | 4.07 (4.19) | 17.6 | −2.69 | 0.006 | 4.67(1,32) | 0.038 | 0.13 | 4.63(1,31) | .039 | 0.13 |
| IL-6 (pg/ml) | ||||||||||||
| Pre | 2.90 (1.56) | 3.18 (1.19) | ||||||||||
| Post | 2.39 (0.70) | −17.6 | 3.13 (1.60) | −1.6 | −0.47 | 0.656 | 0.18(1,32) | 0.675 | 0.01 | 2.90(1,31) | 0.098 | 0.09 |
| TNF-α (pg/ml) | ||||||||||||
| Pre | 6.05 (2.75) | 6.10 (2.87) | ||||||||||
| Post | 5.61 (4.33) | −7.3 | 6.23 (4.09) | 2.1 | −1.03 | 0.319 | 1.26(1,32) | 0.269 | 0.04 | 1.26(1,31) | 0.271 | 0.04 |
| IL-10 (pg/ml) | ||||||||||||
| Pre | 5.15 (0.41) | 5.14 (0.46) | ||||||||||
| Post | 5.41 (0.86) | 5.1 | 5.34 (0.59) | 3.9 | −0.37 | 0.758 | 0.03(1,32) | 0.875 | <001 | 0.02(1,31) | 0.881 | <0.01 |
Mn: mean. SD: standard deviation. Δ%: percentage increment. Z: Z-value. p: p-value. F: Snedecor’s F. ƞ2: partial eta squared as an effect size measure. Mann-Whitney U test: Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test on the raw (non-normalized) delta-values for the biomarkers (post-pre values), except for the GI composite, which was calculated by adding the Z scores for the normalized IL-6, TNF-α and CRP values. RM ANOVA: Repeated measures analysis of variance with pre- and post-treatment measures. ANCOVA: analysis of covariance at post-treatment with the baseline measure as a covariate. ANOVA and ANCOVA analyses were performed on log values (except for the BDNF). *Descriptive values are presented as raw scores except for the GI composite, which is a natural logarithm normalization sum.