Stress Management in College Students

NCT05392621 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB00024664
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 46
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Stress is defined as a response to one's evaluation of physical, emotional, or environmental challenges or demands. While the experience of stress is common, chronic exposure to high levels of stress is associated with a host of negative interrelated psychological, physiological, and behavioral outcomes. Mental health problems such as anxiety and depression have a high correlation with stress. In addition, chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease are also thought to be related to stress. For instance, research shows that stress increases blood lipids by changing cholesterol levels eventually leading to arterial thrombosis and stroke. While stress affects individuals across their lifespan, college students face a unique combination of academic and life challenges that exacerbate their experience of stress, making them highly susceptible to high levels of stress. Additionally, technological advances such as social media can be a source of chronic stress for many. As exposure to high levels of persistent stress is likely to predispose young adults to a lifetime of poor health and unhealthy behaviors, this is especially imperative in finding low impact and attainable methods of stress management for this population. Although a significant body of literature has addressed stress reduction techniques, most studies to date focus on intervention effects that accumulate over months of exposure, with many stress management programs lasting at minimum of 8 weeks. Previous research has found that interventions employing yoga, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), and deep breathing exercise (DBE) significantly reduce stress levels. The relationship between yoga and stress reduction has been especially consistent across studies. It has been suggested that mindfulness may be the active agent in such programs. Intriguingly, Fountain et al., (2019) found a single 20-minute yoga session significantly decreased stress levels in college students. This raises the question of whether yoga, PMR, and/or DBE require repeated exposure to provide helpful stress-reducing effects, or whether benefits may be obtained in a single session. If so, college students who are unable to commit to an 8-week program will still benefit tremendously from a toolbox of stress reduction techniques, especially during high-stress periods (e.g., finals). The purpose of this study is to examine whether an acute bout of yoga, PMR, and DBE, delivered alone and in combination, are feasible and acceptable components in a single-session stress-reduction program for college students, and to explore initial effects on stress. We will use an efficient factorial design to gather data on the feasibility and acceptability of each of these three components, and to explore the initial main effects on stress.

Conditions

Stress

Keywords

yoga; deep breathing; progressive muscle relaxation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Recruitment Yield

  Number consented/number contacted

  Baseline

• Completion Rate

  Number completed/number consented

  The day following the session

• Acceptability of the intervention as assessed by survey

  Feedback survey of aspects of the program participants enjoyed and disliked

  End of session

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Perceived acceptability of the intervention package as assessed by the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM)

  End of session

• Perceived feasibility of delivering the intervention as assessed by the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM)

  End of session

• Perceived appropriateness of the intervention package as assessed by the Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM)

  End of session

• Perceived Stress

  Pre-intervention, immediately preceding the single intervention session, immediately after completing the single intervention session, and 1 day after the single intervention session

• Positive and negative affect

  Pre-intervention, immediately preceding the single intervention session, immediately after completing the single intervention session, and 1 day after the single intervention session

Study Arms (8)

Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session combining yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing.

Behavioral: Yoga; Behavioral: Deep Breathing; Behavioral: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session combining yoga and progressive muscle relaxation

Behavioral: Yoga; Behavioral: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Yoga+Deep Breathing

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session combining yoga and deep breathing.

Behavioral: Yoga; Behavioral: Deep Breathing

Yoga

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session of yoga.

Behavioral: Yoga

Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session combining progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing.

Behavioral: Deep Breathing; Behavioral: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session of progressive muscle relaxation.

Behavioral: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Deep Breathing

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants engage in a single session of deep breathing.

Behavioral: Deep Breathing

Quiet sitting

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants engage in a low-touch relaxation condition.

Behavioral: Quiet sitting

Interventions

Yoga BEHAVIORAL

A single Hatha yoga session designed to support stress management.

Yoga; Yoga+Deep Breathing; Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation; Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing

Deep Breathing BEHAVIORAL

A single deep breathing exercise session designed to elicit relaxation and to assist in stress management.

Deep Breathing; Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing; Yoga+Deep Breathing; Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing

Progressive Muscle Relaxation BEHAVIORAL

A single session of progressive muscle relaxation designed to elicit relaxation.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation; Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing; Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation; Yoga+Progressive Muscle Relaxation+Deep Breathing

Quiet sitting BEHAVIORAL

A single session of quiet sitting.

Quiet sitting

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 24 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Undergraduate college students
• Aged 18 -24 years
• Capable of engaging in physical activity as assessed via the physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q+)
• Willing to provide consent and attend a single stress intervention session lasting up to 60 minutes
• Agree to all study procedures and assessments

You may not qualify if:

• Outside of 18-24 years of age
• Unable to safely engage in physical activity
• Not an undergraduate student at Wake Forest University
• Unwilling to complete study procedures

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Wake Forest University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27109, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Yoga; Autogenic Training

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mind-Body Therapies; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Spiritual Therapies; Exercise Movement Techniques; Physical Therapy Modalities; Hypnosis; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: This is a 2x2x2 randomized factorial pilot trial. Participants will be randomized to receive one of 8 possible combinations of yoga (yes/no), progressive muscle relaxation (yes/no), or deep breathing (yes/no).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 13, 2022
• First Posted: May 26, 2022
• Study Start: June 2, 2022
• Primary Completion: March 31, 2023
• Study Completion: March 31, 2023
• Last Updated: July 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)