Abstract: The purpose of this paper was to explore the effects of abdominal breathing and relaxation training on T wave amplitude and heart rate of people under stress. Thirty eight female college students were assigned to two different experimental groups and one control group according to Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Chinese version, Adult form). One of the two experimental groups was abdominal breathing group in which the subjects were trained to practise abdominal breathing while the other was a relaxation group in which subjects were taught relaxation. Results showed that: a. Both relaxation training and abdominal breathing were effective in enhancing T wave amplitude and in preventing T wave amplitude from decreasing under stressful situation, and the effects of the abdominal breathing was superior to those of the relaxation training. b. Under stressful situation, T wave amplitude decreased significantly while heart rate increased significantly. c. Heart rate was not sensitive to the effects of abdominal breathing and relaxation training. It can be concluded that relaxation training and abdominal breathing were effective in enhancing T wave and preventing T wave amplitude from decreasing under stressful situation.

Key words: relaxation training, abdominal breathing, T wave, heart rate, stress