Musically-Guided Paced Breathing Improves Mental Health in War-Affected Adolescents

The paced breathing condition used timed auditory and visual cues to guide participants through breathing cycles at a rate of five breaths per minute, designed to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and promote relaxation. The audiovisual cues included spoken instructions, music, and breath-like sounds. The tonal audio cues rose in pitch during inhalation and fell during exhalation, creating a clear auditory signal for breath pacing. The same harmonic drone used in the mindfulness intervention provided a calming background, though here it was combined with the rhythmic pacing. Visually, the pacing was synchronized with the image of a lotus flower opening during inhalation and closing during exhalation, reinforcing the breathing rhythm.

The audio component of the mindfulness intervention featured a female narrator guiding participants through mindfulness exercises, focusing on breath awareness and cultivating non-judgmental attention to thoughts and feelings. Ambient tonal sounds, including a harmonic drone with slow timbral changes, played softly in the background to support relaxation. Importantly, no rhythmic audio cues were included to avoid inducing breathing entrainment. This setup emphasized passive, mindful observation rather than active breath control, encouraging participants to observe their bodily sensations and thoughts without judgment.