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Psychosomatic Medicine 65:658-661 (2003)
© 2003 American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Hopelessness Is Associated With Decreased Heart Rate Variability During Championship Chess Games

Alfons M. Schwarz, MD, Hartmut Schächinger, MD, Rolf H. Adler, MD and Stefan M. Goetz, MD

From the Department of Internal Medicine (A.M.S., R.H.A., S.M.G.), Medical Division Lory, University of Berne Medical School, Berne, Switzerland; and the Laboratory of Psychophysiology (H.S.), Department of Medicine, University of Basle Medical School, Basle, Switzerland.

Address reprint requests to: Rolf H. Adler, MD, Leiserenweg 4, CH-3122 Kehrsatz, Switzerland. Email: m.r.adler{at}tiscalinet.ch

Received for publication February 24, 2002; revision received October 29, 2002.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical observations suggest that negative affects such as helplessness/hopelessness (HE/HO) may induce autonomic duration; affects were assessed for every move after reconstruction of the games. In all games compiled, 18 situation of intense confidence/optimism and 20 of intense helplessness/hopelessness were observed.

RESULTS: Intense affects of HE/HO were associated with decreasing HF-HRV (Fisher exact test, p = .003), increasing "nervousness" (p = .0005), decreasing "optimism" (p = .0005), and decreasing "calmness" (p = .0005).

CONCLUSIONS: Investigation of championship chess game players with an ELO strength >= 2300 in a natural field setting revealed increasing HE/HO being associated with reduced HF-HRV suggestive of vagal withdrawal. Thus, our data may help link negative mood states, autonomic nervous system disturbances, and cardiac events.

Abbreviations: ECG = electrocardiogram;; ELO = ranking system of the International Chess Federation for the rating of competitive players, developed by Arpad Elo, Hungarian mathematician;; HE = helplessness;; HF = high frequency;; HO = hopelessness;; HR = heart rate;; HRV = heart rate variability;; IPFM = Integral Pulse Frequency Modulator;; LF = low frequency;; LPFES = low pass filtering of event series;; RF = respiratory frequency;; SD = standard deviation.




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