Lan Ma, Ruixuan Zhang, Zhiyuan Mao, Mu Han Teh
Deteriorating attention control has become a common problem among contemporary college students caused by digital distractions, academic stress, and insufficient physical activity. As a mind-body exercise integrating mind, breath and movement, Baduanjin can improve cognitive function, yet the dose-dependent effects of online Baduanjin remain underexplored. This randomized controlled trial recruited 30 students (baseline ACS ≤50, <2 weekly exercise sessions with <5 h of weekly total activity) into high-frequency (7 sessions per week), low-frequency (3 sessions per week), and control groups for an 8-week intervention. Concentration was assessed via ACS scores, task initiation speed, and sustained attention duration. Both intervention groups outperformed controls on ACS; improvements in sustained-attention duration and initiation speed were markedly greater in the high-frequency group, whereas the low-frequency group showed significant gains only in initiation speed. High-frequency online Baduanjin effectively enhances college students' concentration and offers empirical support for integrating it into university extracurricular physical-education programs.