Response of blood pressure to relaxation and subliminal suggestion

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Authors
Mofield, Jeanne P.
Advisor
Hendrickson, Donald E.
Issue Date
1985
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Degree
Thesis (Ph. D.)
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Abstract

The present investigation compared the effectiveness of an audible relaxation strategy and a subliminal suggestion strategy for lowering blood pressure in a normotensive population. These strategies were compared with each other and with a control group. Data were obtained from 108 females and 37 males on: 1) baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure; and 2) end of treatment systolic and diastolic blood pressure.It was anticipated that if there was a difference between group means on the dependent measures, the difference would occur between 1) the audible relaxation instruction and the control conditions, and 2) the subliminal suggestion and the control conditions. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine pretreatment equivalence of blood pressure in the three treatment groups. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance was used to test for statistical significance on the end of treatment data.The findings revealed that neither treatment strategy was more effective than the other, nor more effective than the control group at the end of treatment. Even though there were slight reductions from pretreatment blood pressure to end of treatment blood pressure in each group, there were no significant differences among groups. The validity and generalizability of these findings were discussed in light of previous research. Recommendations were made for further research.