A Study On The Relationship Between Forbearance And Heart Rate Variability

Significance and PurposeForbearance is defined as a psychological quality whereby an individual can withstand desires,difficulties,and pressures;endure temporary unhappiness or humiliation in order to achieve their long-term interests or goals;handle conflict peacefully;and regulate their emotions,attitudes,and behaviors.Whether forbearance has a physiological basis still needs to be explored urgently.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to clarify whether forbearance can be used as a positive psychological resource to affect individuals’ negative and positive emotional experiences;to explore the relationship between forbearance and autonomic nervous system activity;to quest the relationship between forbearance and individual’s autonomic nervous response in the face of stressor.MethodStudy 1:A total of 195 potential subjects were recruited by recruitment posters in Southern Medical University of Guangzhou,Guangdong.Excluding those with cardiovascular disease or mental illness,long-term drug history,smoking and alcoholism.The subjects’ resting ECG data were collected and heart rate variability(HRV)was analyzed.The correlation between forbearance and resting heart rate variability was analyzed using Spearman correlation and linear regression,the difference in resting heart rate variability between different forbearance score groups was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test,the difference in resting heart rate variability between different forbearance type groups was analyzed using the KruskalWallis test,and the generalized linear regression model was used to explain the relationship between resting heart rate variability and different forbearance types.Study 2:The experimental subjects of study 1(n=192)were taken as the research object.The subjects were divided into groups according to their forbearance scores,and the physiological responses of different groups in two kinds of laboratory stress tasks(active stress task and passive stress task)were compared.The psychophysiological relationship between forbearance and HRV in laboratory conditions under stress were explored.ResultsStudy 1:There is a correlation between the level of forbearance and the indexes of resting HRV.The correlations were statistically significant(P<0.01);the correlation coefficients between the factors of tolerance level and resting heart rate variability were 0.287 for resting RMSSD,0.195 for resting HF,-0.203 for resting LF,-0.210 for LF/HF,and-0.246 for resting heart rate.The correlations were statistically significant(p<0.01);there were correlations between the factors of forbearance scale and the resting heart rate variability index,the correlations were statistically significant(P<0.05).Resting RMSSD[38.40(26.75-54.05)],resting HF[49.00(35.20-62.30)]were higher in the high forbearance group[26.15(20.10-37.68)],[40.30(28.30-51.80)]than in the lower group;resting LF[46.90(32.70-61.30)],resting LF/HF[0.96(0.57-1.71)]and resting HR[71.00(64.50-77.00)]were lower than those in the lower group:[54.60(43.15-67.83)],[1.37(0.82-2.42)],[80.00(72.25-86.75)].The differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Significant differences were found between resting heart rate variability in individuals with different forbearance types.Study 2:HRV response of passive stress task and rest period after passive stress in higher forbearance group was significantly better than that in lower group[40.70(28.70-56.80)],[35.90(28.00-48.80)](P<0.05);There was no significant difference in HRV response of active stress task between higher forbearance and lower group(P>0.05);The HRV response of rest period after active stress in higher forbearance group[37.70(27.50-49.50)]was significantly better than that in lower group(P<0.05).Conclusion1.Forbearance is associated with HRV,which reflect the activity of the autonomic nervous system.Higher HRV suggesting the balanced autonomic nervous system in people with high forbearance.2.The findings suggested that high levels of forbearance associate with an active parasympathetic nervous system and a balanced autonomic nervous system,leading to better autonomic responses to laboratory stress.Subjects with high forbearance scores had better emotional regulation and inhibition ability in the face of stress.Because of the higher levels of forbearance,the negative emotions of individuals caused by adversity are mitigated.