The Use of Biofeedback on Students: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Biofeedback is a technique that involves feedback of physiological and biomechanical parameters enabling the user to learn how to consciously regulate these responses. Biofeedback training has been a tool for helping students improve academic performance and aiding in the treatment of clinical conditions such as mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders. This study aimed at conducting a systematic review of the literature published on the use of biofeedback techniques among students from elementary school, high school, and college. A bibliographic search was conducted in the electronic database MEDLINE. The descriptors “biofeedback” and “students” were used and only articles published between 2010 and 2020 were selected. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 articles, all randomized controlled trials, were analyzed: four studies had students from elementary school as participants, one article had students from high school as volunteers, and nine studies had students from college as participants. Among the analyzed literature, eight articles made use of neurofeedback, heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback was the instrument chosen in five of the examined studies, and one article made use of biomechanical feedback. Results suggest that biofeedback techniques are valuable tools in interventions involving students from all levels of formal education, both as a therapeutic instrument, and as a resource for healthy individuals to enhance performance and better quality of life.