The goal of this randomized controlled study is to learn whether a 21-day physical resilience (movement-based) program can improve mental well-being, emotional regulation, and academic functioning in university students.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does participation in a 21-day physical resilience program improve students' well-being (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, affect, life satisfaction, and perceived health)?
Does the program improve students' academic and self-regulatory outcomes (e.g., engagement, burnout, procrastination, productivity, emotion regulation, coping, and self-control capacity)?
Researchers will compare students who complete the physical resilience program immediately to students in a waitlist control group to see whether participation in the program leads to greater improvements in well-being and academic-related outcomes.
Participants will:
Sign up online and provide informed consent
Be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or a waitlist control group
Receive daily micro-movement tasks and reminders via Telegram for 21 days (intervention group)
Complete online questionnaire surveys at baseline, post-intervention, and a 2-week follow-up
Student of Singapore Management University
Uses Telegram
Below 18 Years Old
Parallel
Physical resilience
BehavioralThe intervention is a 21-day, digitally delivered physical resilience program consisting of daily, brief, movement-based activities designed to support mental well-being and academic functioning in university students. The program includes low-intensity physical movement, breathing exercises, and body-based regulation practices that can be completed independently without specialized equipment or prior physical training. Participants assigned to the intervention group receive one structured movement task per day for 21 consecutive days. Tasks are delivered via a Telegram channel, accompanied by brief digital reminders to prompt engagement. Each task is designed to be short in duration, flexible in timing, and feasible within daily routines, emphasizing consistency rather than physical exertion or performance. The intervention is self-guided and asynchronous, with no in-person contact, live sessions, or direct supervision.
State anxiety
State anxiety will be assessed using the 6-item Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory STAI-6 (Marteau \& Bekker, 1992). Six items (e.g., "I was worried these past 2 weeks.") rated from 1 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much so) will be averaged for a composite score. Higher scores indicate greater levels of anxiety.
Procrastination
Procrastination will be assessed using six items from the Irrational Procrastination Scale (Steel, 2002), such as "At the end of these past 2 weeks, I know I could have spent the time this week better." Participants will respond on a 1-5 scale (1 = Very seldom or not true of me, 5 = Very often true, or true with me), and higher average scores indicate higher levels of procrastination.
Productivity
Productivity will be assessed using the Task Performance subscale of the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ; Koopmans et al., 2013, 2014), adapted to the academic context. Participants will respond to five items (e.g., "I was able to plan my work so that I finished it on time") with reference to their schoolwork. Items will be rated on a 6-point scale from 0 (seldom) to 5 (always) and then the scores will be averaged, with higher scores indicating greater productivity.
Study Burnout
Study burnout will be measured using the 9-item Study Burnout Inventory (Salmela-Aro \& Read, 2017). Participants will indicate how well each item described their experiences (e.g., "I felt a lack of motivation in studying and often think of giving up") on a 6-point scale from 1 (Completely disagree) to 6 (Completely agree). Scores will be averaged, with higher scores indicating greater academic burnout.
Study Engagement
Study engagement will be measured using the 9-item Study Engagement Inventory (Salmela-Aro \& Read, 2017). Participants will rate items such as "I found studying full of meaning and purpose" based on their experiences. Responses will be given on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Completely disagree) to 6 (Completely agree) and higher scores will indicate greater levels of academic engagement.
Implementation intention
Implementation intention will be measured using the single item "In the past 14 days, I have taken steps to achieve my goals for the month." scored from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree), where a higher score indicates higher implementation intention.
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