Bird Watching to Reduce Stress in University Students

Universidad Industrial de Santander

Status: Completed

Conditions: Stress, Psychologic

Treatments: Other: Birdwatching Intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06614517

4217

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to learn if birdwatching can reduce stress in university students. It will also explore students; experiences with the intervention. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does birdwatching reduce students perceived stress levels? What are the experiences of students who participate in the birdwatching intervention? Why do some students drop out of the study? Researchers will compare a group of students who participate in birdwatching outings to a control group that does not receive the intervention to determine if birdwatching is effective in reducing stress.

Participants will:

Either participate in birdwatching outings or be in a control group with no intervention Complete a perceived stress scale (PSS-10) to measure their stress levels Take part in semi-structured interviews to discuss their experiences with the intervention or their reasons for dropping out of the study

Enrollment: 102 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 100 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• University students who meet the following inclusion criteria will be included in the study: being 18 years of age or older, being enrolled in any undergraduate program at the Universidad Industrial de Santander, having a score of 10 or higher on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and having access to WhatsApp.

Exclusion criteria

• University students with a medical diagnosis of any mental illness under pharmacological or non-pharmacological treatment, with health conditions that prevent them from seeing, hearing, or moving, as well as students who have engaged in birdwatching in the last six months, will not be included.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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102 participants in 2 patient groups

Birdwatching Intervention Arm

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention arm will involve participants, divided into four subgroups, taking part in field trips for visual and auditory birdwatching. These trips will take place every 15 days over three sessions, guided by an expert in the subject. Students will be provided with binoculars and guidance on the use of apps to identify observed birds. Additionally, WhatsApp groups will be created for each subgroup, where videos and audios of birds will be shared, along with weekly challenges to reinforce exposure to the intervention. The outings will take place in natural environments such as coffee farms and forests near Bucaramanga.

Treatment:

Other: Birdwatching Intervention

Control Arm

No Intervention group

Description:

The control group will not receive any intervention related to birdwatching. Participants in this group will continue with their usual activities without taking part in the field trips or complementary activities such as watching videos or listening to bird sounds.