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Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an online High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program on clinical psychological symptoms in higher education students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>During the lockdown, 30 students aged 18\u201325 years, who had been screened previously with a cut-off score \u22655 in the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire, were randomly assigned to either the 4-week HIIT program with three sessions per week conducted through online videos, or a no-intervention control group. The primary outcome was the feasibility assessment. The secondary outcome was a psychological self-report with the 21-items Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Assessment and intervention were performed in compliance with social distancing rules.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Two participants in the HIIT were lost to follow-up, leaving 13 participants vs. 15 in the control group. We observed high adherence (87%) and complete safety for mental and physical status with the HIIT intervention delivered by online videos. The Mann-Whitney test demonstrated a significant (group \u00d7 time, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>-Value = 0.046) reduction of clinical stress symptoms and a trend (group \u00d7 time, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>-Value = 0.08) toward reduction of clinical depression symptoms, both favoring the HIIT group. No significant (group \u00d7 time, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>-Value = 0.118) interaction was found for anxiety symptoms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The online HIIT program was found to be feasible and safe in a clinical sample of young adults, who were experiencing social and physical restrictions due to COVID-19. HIIT reduced stress and depressive symptoms and thus these preliminary results show promise for broader application among higher education students during the present lockdown necessitated by the global COVID-19 health crisis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2022.904283","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,21]],"date-time":"2022-06-21T05:11:07Z","timestamp":1655788267000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Feasibility of Online High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on Psychological Symptoms in Students in Lockdown During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled 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