NCT05316285

Effects of School-based Yoga Program on University Students

Completed NA Last updated 30 July 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Yoga exercise in Yoga in 61 participants. Completed in 1 February 2024.

Timeline

11 February 2023

Primary endpoint
20 February 2023

1 February 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Medipol University
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	non randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	supportive care
Enrollment	61
Start date	11 February 2023
Primary completion	20 February 2023
Estimated completion	1 February 2024
Sites	1 location across Turkey (Türkiye)

Drugs / interventions tested

• Yoga exercise

Conditions studied

• Yoga — all drugs for Yoga →
• Adolescent Behavior — all drugs for Adolescent Behavior →
• Emotional Regulation — all drugs for Emotional Regulation →
• Mental Health — all drugs for Mental Health →

Sponsor

Medipol University

Who can join

Adults 19 to 24, any sex, with Yoga or Adolescent Behavior. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Focusing on emotions is valuable because "how a person feels, reacts, and expresses emotions can have both short-term and long-term effects on physical and mental health". This is explained by mechanisms such as reappraisal, attention regulation, self-monitoring, self-awareness, and regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Because yoga reduces negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression, teens are likely to result in less conflict and stress in their lives. It is thought that it is also important for young people to accept difficult feelings and to be able to accept and approve these feelings. When negative emotions are acknowledged and witnessed, they often dissolve or transform, and the process allows the individual to learn about their limits, preferences, and needs. Processing emotions in this way allows a person to be honest with oneself and can contribute to healthier development. Therefore, yoga appears to be a useful well-being tool and practice that schools should adopt, as it can increase life skills for students such as concentration, memory, relational skills, and decision-making that are affected by emotions. Emotional well-being is important for learning in life and school. As noted earlier, research supports such a view, but more research is needed to understand how and why yoga should be offered to young people in their schools. However, it is suggested that researchers further explore the role of yoga in the management of emotions, both in terms of emotional processing and regulation of emotions. The role of yogic breathing (pranayama) as part of a holistic perspective on yoga, and specifically the role of yoga in the relationship between being with emotions, regulating emotions, and how it relates to change, should be further explored.

It has been described in the literature that care should be taken to avoid possible harm to individuals associated with the use of unhealthy weight control behaviors among young adults and women with obesity. Yoga's intent to strengthen and support a positive sense of self makes it a particularly viable strategy for healthy weight management for women and those at high risk for poor body image. Finally, it has been reported that reductions in perceived stress may mediate the effects of participation in a yoga program on negative emotional and behavioral problems. It has been suggested that future studies may also assess the extent to which exposure to stress and trauma may affect youth's participation in and benefit from mindfulness and yoga interventions.

Considering all the suggestions and research needs in the literature, this study was planned to examine the improvement in self-esteem, life satisfaction, body image, anxiety, depression and cognitive emotion regulation levels of university students after their participation in the yoga program provided to them in the school environment and to compare them with students who do not do yoga. In the study, it is planned to investigate the pre-exam anxiety levels of university youth who regularly practice yoga.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.