Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 109-113.

Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome (MVPS) is a benign psychosomatic cardiac condition that can severely impair one's quality of life. Symptoms targeted in this study include, atypical chest pain, palpitations, anxiety, panic, and shortness of breath.This study was undertaken to examine the effects of a diaphragmatic breathing intervention on the symptoms and underlying mechanism of dysautonomia in a small group of symptomatic females with MVPS. The intervention was based on both yoga theory and cardiorespiratory empirical studies.Seven of eight participant's completed the nine week study using a single subject multiple baseline design across subjects. Participant's began a respiratory retraining intervention, in a weekly staggered pair start, after the first week of baseline measurement. Respiratory training consisted of a four week training in diaphragmatic breathing with home practice three times a day.Autonomic, behavioral, and cognitive systems were assessed. Dependent measures included State and Trait Anxiety, Anxiety Sensitivity, a Symptom Checklist, and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA). RSA is a current noninvasive measure of parasympathetic tone. Data on thoracic and abdominal respiratory predominance, respiration rate, diet, exercise, and adherence were also gathered.Data were analyzed via visual inspection of trends and phase average changes. Treatment effect sizes were calculated for standardized measures to indicate the meaningfulness of change.Two of the seven participants demonstrated a decrease in total symptom frequencies over the course of intervention. One participant demonstrated a weekly progression of lowered state anxiety scores from baseline through intervention. In terms of phase averages, three participants showed a lowering of state anxiety. All seven participants demonstrated lowered trait anxiety scores from pre to post intervention. Two of the seven participants demonstrated a meaningful pre to post intervention decrease in anxiety sensitivity. Respiratory training was effective in stabilizing abdominal respiration. Results regarding vagal tone could not be determined due to unreliable ECG data.In general, results were poor with several inconsistencies. Adherence rates were low and it did not appear that a therapeutic level of change in respiration rate was achieved. Controlling respiration rate may be a critical factor in the therapeutic effectiveness of respiratory retraining interventions. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services