Behavioral relaxation training and assessment

Behavioral Relaxation Training (BRT), a set of ten overt behaviors directly taught by prompting and performance feedback, was compared with frontalis EMG Biofeedback (BIO), Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), and a Music “attention focusing” (MUS) control, on five dependent measures of relaxation, in four groups of volunteers for a “stress-reduction” project. The dependent measures consisted of the Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS), frontalis EMG, finger temperature, skin conductance level, and self-report. BRS scores decreased in the BRT, BIO, and PMR, but not MUS groups. EMG decreased in the BRT and BIO groups, but not in PMR or MUS. BRT retained its improvements at 4–6 week follow-up. All groups reported similar improvements on the self-report scale, Temperature and skin conductance were not systematically related to training procedures. Significant correlations between BRS and EMG were obtained.