INVESTIGATOR(S): Wendy Suzuki, Serena Shapard, Cian Walls, Sanjana Thayi, Alex Modzelewski, Sutton Cotsworth, Caitlynn Yeaple, Kaylene Guzman, Daniel Amin, David Mercado

INVITATION TO BE A PART OF A RESEARCH STUDY

You are invited to participate in a research study. This form has information to help you decide whether or not you wish to participate - please review it carefully. Your participation is voluntary. Please ask any questions you have about the study or about this form before deciding to participate.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether very short outdoor walks can improve mood, confidence, and thinking skills in college students. Previous research suggests that about 15 minutes of exercise may be necessary to see benefits. This study will test whether a shorter walk of 5 minutes may also produce positive effects.

ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE

You are eligible to participate if you are currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at New York University.

You should not participate if you are a student athlete, or if you have conditions that make moderate walking unsafe, including cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, mobility limitations, or other health concerns identified through the screening process.

To determine if you are eligible, we will be requesting confirmation of eligibility via email prior to participation in the experiment.

DESCRIPTION OF STUDY PROCEDURES

If you agree to participate, your involvement will include two parts:

Pre-Survey (Day Before the Walk):

You will log onto a secure website (suzukicognition.com) to complete a short set of questionnaires and tasks that take about 20 minutes in total, including:

Demographic questions (such as age and sex)
A mood questionnaire
A self-efficacy questionnaire
A computer-based reaction time task (Stroop task)

Walk Session (Day Of the Study):

You will meet on campus with a small group (about 10 students). You will then put on a wrist-worn heart rate monitor and record your starting heart rate. You will then take part in a guided outdoor walk on a designated route around campus. The walk will last either 5 or 15 minutes. The pace will be either light (low intensity) or brisk (moderate intensity), depending on group assignment.

At the end of the walk, you will record your heart rate again, rate how hard the walk felt (using the Borg scale), and complete the same surveys and Stroop task you did the day before. This session takes about 20–25 minutes.

Your total time commitment is about 40–45 minutes across both parts.

RISKS OR DISCOMFORTS

This study involves minimal risk. Possible risks include:

Temporary muscle or joint soreness from walking
Minor fatigue or shortness of breath during brisk walking
Possible discomfort answering survey questions about mood or self-confidence
Very small risk of tripping or falling outdoors

To minimize risks, all walking routes are pre-checked for safety, sessions will be canceled in unsafe weather, and a trained experimenter will accompany the group at all times. You may stop the walk or withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.

As this experiment is completed in a group session, there is a risk of breach of confidentiality as participant identities will not be concealed from other group members. However, no data or responses will be identified or shared with other participants, and at no point will participants introduce themselves to each other or learn other identifying information.

Please tell the researchers if you believe you are harmed from your participation in the study.

BENEFITS

It is hoped that this study will contribute to knowledge about the effect exercise has on self efficacy and mood. Although a correlation between the two has already been found in previous studies on longer durations of exercise, this study particularly looks at the effects of brief bouts of moderate intensity exercise. By demonstrating that short-duration exercise can yield meaningful benefits we hope to deliver practical, evidence-based strategies that empower college students to enhance their self efficacy and overall well-being.

You are not expected to directly benefit from participation in the study.

COMPENSATION

For completing the entirety of the study you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card. This gift card will be sent to you after completion of the study at your NYU email address.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION

Participating in this study is completely voluntary. You may choose not to take part in the study or to stop participating at any time, for any reason, without penalty or negative consequences. Not taking part or withdrawing from the study will not affect your grade or academic standing in any way. You have the right to skip or not answer any questions you prefer not to answer.

If you withdraw from the study early, you will not receive payment for the time you have completed.

We may end your participation in the study if we discover you do not fit the eligibility criteria.

If you withdraw or are withdrawn from the study early, then we will keep information about you that is already collected. If you do not complete the study in its entirety, you will not receive compensation.

PRIVACY & DATA CONFIDENTIALITY

In this study, you may be asked to provide information that could be used to identify you personally. This information will be kept confidential. Only researchers and others that will keep the information confidential (e.g., regulatory agencies or oversight groups) may access information that could personally identify you.

Future Use of Data

We may wish to use information about you collected for this study for future research, share it with other researchers, or place it in a data repository. We will only be sharing de-identifiable data that is collected. All information that could identify you will be removed before sharing the data or using it for other research studies. These studies may be similar to this study or completely different. We will not ask you for additional permission before sharing this information. Please indicate below your permissions regarding this use of your information:

INVESTIGATOR(S): Wendy Suzuki, Serena Shapard, Cian Walls, Sanjana Thayi, Alex Modzelewski, Sutton Cotsworth, Caitlynn Yeaple, Kaylene Guzman, Daniel Amin, David Mercado

INVITATION TO BE A PART OF A RESEARCH STUDY

Your child is invited to participate in a research study. This form has information to help you decide whether or not you wish to allow their participation - please review it carefully. Their participation is voluntary. Please ask any questions you have about the study or about this form before deciding.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether very short outdoor walks can improve mood, confidence, and thinking skills in college students. Previous research suggests that about 15 minutes of exercise may be necessary to see benefits. This study will test whether a shorter walk of 5 minutes may also produce positive effects.

ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE

Your child is eligible to participate if they are currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at New York University.

They should not participate if they are a student athlete, or if they have conditions that make moderate walking unsafe, including cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, mobility limitations, or other health concerns identified through the screening process.

To determine if they are eligible, we will be requesting confirmation of eligibility via email prior to participation in the experiment.

DESCRIPTION OF STUDY PROCEDURES

If your child agrees to participate, their involvement will include two parts:

Pre-Survey (Day Before the Walk):

They will log onto a secure website (suzukicognition.com) to complete a short set of questionnaires and tasks that take about 20 minutes in total, including:

Demographic questions (such as age and sex)
A mood questionnaire
A self-efficacy questionnaire
A computer-based reaction time task (Stroop task)

Walk Session (Day Of the Study):

They will meet on campus with a small group (about 10 students). They will then put on a wrist-worn heart rate monitor and record their starting heart rate. They will then take part in a guided outdoor walk on a designated route around campus. The walk will last either 5 or 15 minutes. The pace will be either light (low intensity) or brisk (moderate intensity), depending on group assignment.

At the end of the walk, they will record their heart rate again, rate how hard the walk felt (using the Borg scale), and complete the same surveys and Stroop task they did the day before. This session takes about 20–25 minutes.

Their total time commitment is about 40–45 minutes across both parts.

RISKS OR DISCOMFORTS

This study involves minimal risk. Possible risks include:

Temporary muscle or joint soreness from walking
Minor fatigue or shortness of breath during brisk walking
Possible discomfort answering survey questions about mood or self-confidence
Very small risk of tripping or falling outdoors

To minimize risks, all walking routes are pre-checked for safety, sessions will be canceled in unsafe weather, and a trained experimenter will accompany the group at all times. Your child may stop the walk or withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.

As this experiment is completed in a group session, there is a risk of breach of confidentiality as participant identities will not be concealed from other group members. However, no data or responses will be identified or shared with other participants, and at no point will participants introduce themselves to each other or learn other identifying information.

Please tell the researchers if you believe your child has been harmed from their participation in the study.

BENEFITS

It is hoped that this study will contribute to knowledge about the effect exercise has on self efficacy and mood. Although a correlation between the two has already been found in previous studies on longer durations of exercise, this study particularly looks at the effects of brief bouts of moderate intensity exercise. By demonstrating that short-duration exercise can yield meaningful benefits we hope to deliver practical, evidence-based strategies that empower college students to enhance their self efficacy and overall well-being.

Your child is not expected to directly benefit from participation in the study.

COMPENSATION

For completing the entirety of the study your child will receive a $20 Amazon gift card. This gift card will be sent after completion of the study at their NYU email address.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION

Participating in this study is completely voluntary. Your child may choose not to take part in the study or to stop participating at any time, for any reason, without penalty or negative consequences. Not taking part or withdrawing from the study will not affect their grade or academic standing in any way. They have the right to skip or not answer any questions they prefer not to answer.

If they withdraw from the study early, they will not receive payment for the time they have completed.

We may end their participation in the study if we discover they do not fit the eligibility criteria.

If they withdraw or are withdrawn from the study early, then we will keep information about them that is already collected. If they do not complete the study in its entirety, they will not receive compensation.

PRIVACY & DATA CONFIDENTIALITY

In this study, your child may be asked to provide information that could be used to identify them personally. This information will be kept confidential. Only researchers and others that will keep the information confidential (e.g., regulatory agencies or oversight groups) may access information that could personally identify them.

Future Use of Data

We may wish to use information about your child collected for this study for future research, share it with other researchers, or place it in a data repository. We will only be sharing de-identifiable data that is collected. All information that could identify them will be removed before sharing the data or using it for other research studies. These studies may be similar to this study or completely different. We will not ask you for additional permission before sharing this information. Please indicate below your permissions regarding this use of your child's information: