This cross-sectional comparative study aims to evaluate the effects of sustainable exercise habits on cognitive awareness, body awareness, and sleep quality in university students. The main hypotheses are: H0: There is no difference in cognitive awareness, body awareness, and sleep quality between university students with sustainable exercise habits and those with a sedentary lifestyle. H1: There is a difference in cognitive awareness, body awareness, and sleep quality between university students with sustainable exercise habits and those with a sedentary lifestyle.
Healthy university students aged 18-25 who meet the inclusion criteria will be included in this comparative cross-sectional study to demonstrate the effects of sustainable exercise habits on cognitive awareness, body awareness, and sleep quality. Participants will be divided into two different groups based on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) results: the Sustainable Exercise Group and the Sedentary Group. The Sustainable Exercise Group will consist of students who have been performing at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week regularly for at least the last 6 months. The Sedentary Group will include individuals with a weekly physical activity duration of less than 60 minutes or those without a regular exercise habit for the last 6 months. No intervention or experimental procedure will be applied to the participants. All assessments will be prepared as online questionnaires and sent to the participants via Google Forms. Before the evaluation, participants will be informed about the study and their consent will be obtained online. Following this, the participants' sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity routines, and sedentary behaviors will be questioned with a structured evaluation form. The physical activity levels, body awareness, decision-making styles, critical thinking dispositions, and sleep quality of the participants will be evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, Body Awareness Questionnaire, Melbourne Decision Making Scale, Marmara Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, respectively.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
140
No pharmacological or physical intervention is applied. Participants are assigned to groups based on their self-reported physical activity habits. Assessment consists of an online survey battery to evaluate cognitive awareness, body awareness, and sleep quality.
Yeditepe University Faculty of Health Sciences
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) - Short Form
The IPAQ-Short Form will be used to determine the physical activity levels of the participants. This questionnaire consists of 7 questions and provides information about the duration of vigorous activity, moderate activity, walking, and sitting performed in the last 7 days. The data obtained will be calculated in MET-minutes/week. Based on the results, participants will be classified as physically inactive, having low activity level, or adequate activity level.
Time frame: 8-week period between April 2026 and May 2026
Body Awareness Questionnaire
This questionnaire will be used to measure individuals' awareness of their non-pathological bodily processes, such as sensitivity to bodily rhythms, abnormal changes, and variations in body functions. It consists of 18 items. A high total score indicates that the individual has a high level of body awareness.
Time frame: 8-week period between April 2026 and May 2026
Melbourne Decision Making Scale
This scale will be used to evaluate participants' decision-making self-esteem and decision-making styles. The scale consists of two parts: the first part measures self-esteem in decision making, and the second part measures decision-making styles including careful, avoidant, procrastinating, and panic decision making. It includes a total of 22 items.
Time frame: 8-week period between April 2026 and May 2026
Marmara Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale
This scale will be used to determine the critical thinking dispositions of the university students. It is a measurement tool consisting of 28 items that include sub-dimensions such as reasoning, searching, evidence gathering, and open-mindedness.
Time frame: 8-week period between April 2026 and May 2026
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
The PSQI will be used to evaluate the participants' sleep quality and sleep disturbance levels over the past month. The scale consists of 19 self-report questions evaluating 7 components: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction. A total score of 5 or higher is evaluated as poor sleep quality.
Time frame: 8-week period between April 2026 and May 2026
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.