The Effects of Brain Breaks® on Mental Stress, Resilience, Social Support, and Physical Activity among Emerging Adults in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Backgrounds: Mental health challenges among Chinese emerging adults have increased in recent years, raising concerns about students’ psychological well-being in higher education. Brief, scalable interventions such as Brain Breaks® may offer an effective strategy to promote mental health in higher-education settings. This study aims to examine the effects of a four-week Brain Breaks® exercise program on mental stress, resilience, social support, and physical activity levels among Chinese emerging adults. Methods: Eighty college students (aged 19 ± 1.41 years) were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG) or a control group (CG). The IG received Brain Breaks® video-guided sessions twice weekly for four weeks, while the CG received informational brochures on stress reduction. Outcomes included mental stress assessed using a medical device (uBioMacpa), resilience measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), social support assessed using the Social Support Scale for University Students (SSSUS), and physical activity engagement measured by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). A repeated-measures ANOVA tested time, group, and interaction effects. Results: Significant time × group interactions were observed for mental stress (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.75), resilience (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.43), and physical activity (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.22), favoring the IG. Mental stress decreased substantially (Δ = −17.65), whereas resilience (Δ = +1.02) and physical activity increased significantly. No changes were observed in social support. Conclusions: A brief, digitally delivered Brain Breaks® program is effective in reducing stress and enhancing resilience and physical activity among emerging adults. These findings support the integration of Brain Breaks® into university-based mental health promotion strategies. Longer interventions may be necessary to influence social support.