Heart rate variability, psychological variables, and executive performance in teachers: an exploratory cross-sectional study

Abstract

Teaching is a high-demand occupation in which sustained stress may impair wellbeing and self-regulatory processes. Within the neurovisceral integration framework, heart rate variability (HRV) is used as an indicator of autonomic modulation relevant to self-control. To examine the relationships among perceived stress, social support, resting HRV, and executive function performance (Stroop and verbal fluency) in teachers, considering burnout and quality of life as concurrent variables. Cross-sectional correlational study ( N  = 49). Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (MBI-ES), WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). HRV was recorded for 5 min at seated rest using a Polar H10 chest strap and processed into time-domain indices (mean RR, SDNN, RMSSD) and frequency-domain indices (LF, HF, LF/HF). Executive performance was assessed with the Stroop test and phonemic and semantic verbal fluency. Associations were modeled using hierarchical multivariate Bayesian regression adjusted for potential confounders. Multivariate models suggested that global variability markers (e.g., SDNN and mean RR) were associated with better Stroop interference performance, whereas indices reflecting parasympathetic predominance (e.g., HF and a parasympathetic nervous system index) were associated with poorer interference performance. Higher perceived stress and higher depersonalization were associated with poorer verbal fluency (semantic and phonemic) and poorer inhibitory control as measured by Stroop. In this exploratory study, preliminary associations suggested that executive performance in teachers may relate to both psychological state (perceived stress and burnout) and resting autonomic modulation. Notably, higher resting parasympathetic indices showed a tendency toward negative associations with executive performance, a pattern that contradicts simple interpretations of neurovisceral integration and warrants replication. These findings should be regarded as hypothesis-generating signals pending confirmation in larger, longitudinal samples.