Fig. 2. Biochemical stress parameters. Data are mean ± standard
errors. (A) The mean salivary cortisol in the stress and control groups.
(B) The heart rate in the stress and control groups. *p< .05, ***p < .001.
For heart rate, a 2 × 6 mixed-measures ANOVA was conducted with one
within-group factor Time (T1 to T6 time points) and one between-group
factor Group (control group vs. stress group). The results revealed that
the main effect of Time was significant, F (5, 305) = 15.86,p < .001, \(\eta_{p}^{2}\) = 0.21. The main effect of
Group was also significant, F (1, 61) = 6.85, p = .011,\(\eta_{p}^{2}\) = 0.10. In addition, the interaction of Group × Time
was significant, F (5, 305) = 15.95, p < .001,\(\eta_{p}^{2}\) = 0.21 (see Figure 2). Across the groups, simple
effects analyses (Bonferroni corrected) revealed that the stressed
participants showed significantly higher heart rates after completing
the MIST session than the control participants at T3 (p< .001), T4 (p = .027), and T5 (p = .020).