Effects of Exercise Intervention on Sleep Quality and Emotional Problems in College Students With Depressive Symptoms

This exploratory randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of exercise on sleep quality, emotional problems, executive function, and neurophysiological characteristics in college students with depressive symptoms. The study consists of two sequential phases: an acute exercise experiment followed by an 8-week exercise intervention. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an exercise intervention group or a control group. Psychological questionnaires, behavioral tasks, resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), brain functional connectivity, and event-related potentials (ERP) will be assessed to evaluate behavioral and neurophysiological changes before and after exercise. The study will further examine whether the immediate response to acute exercise predicts the effectiveness of the long-term intervention.

Inclusion Criteria: * • Aged 18-23 years. * Right-handed. * Non-physical education major. * No history of psychiatric disorders and no current or previous use of psychotropic medications, hypnotics, or other medications affecting the central nervous system. * No history of traumatic brain injury or chronic physical diseases. * No contraindications to physical exercise. * Participants with a Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) score \>13 will be classified as having depressive symptoms, whereas participants with a BDI-II score ≤13 will be classified as having no depressive symptoms. Exclusion Criteria: * Vigorous physical exercise, alcohol consumption, caffeine intake, or other stimulating behaviors within 24 hours before testing. * Withdrawal from the study before completion of EEG recording or behavioral task assessments. * Participants will be excluded from the final analysis if they fail to complete the required questionnaires or if the collected data do not meet predefined quality control criteria.