Objective: College students experience elevated rates of alcohol and sexual risk behaviors, but underrepresentation of rural institutions precludes tailored intervention. This study characterizes prevalence and short-term alcohol-sex risk at a rural institution. Participants: Undergraduates at a rural northeastern university. Method: Online health…

Objective: This longitudinal study tested the relationship between cigarette and e-cigarette use and SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion among US college students. Participants: Undergraduate students (n = 764), drawn from a randomly selected invitation-only pool from a large Midwestern university, that were initially negative for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and…

Objectives: Sexual Strategies Theory suggests people fall on a continuum between having short-term mating orientation (STMO) and long-term mating orientation. One way STMO individuals signal mating goals is via risky drinking. The current study therefore aims to investigate drinks per week (DPW) as a mediator between STMO and risky sexual behavior…

Background: Personal Health literacy (PHL) is essential in cardiovascular risk management. Hindrances in PHL can lead to poor cardiovascular outcomes. Purpose: To investigate whether limited PHL is associated with lower likelihoods of i) overall cardiovascular health and ii) individual cardiovascular health components as defined by the American…

Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to risky sexual behavior (RSB). However, little is known regarding the role of impulsivity in this relation among college students. Participants: The present study examined the moderating role of impulsivity dispositions on the relation between PTSD symptoms and past-year RSB in a…

Objective: This study examined the independent and joint effects of ADHD status, distress tolerance, and delay of gratification on the propensity to engage in health risk behaviors (drug use, alcohol use, disordered eating). Participants/Methods Participants: included 115 female college students (41.7% with ADHD) who completed online…

School connectedness is an important factor in the lives of youth and are a leverage point for optimizing youth's social, emotional, and physical health. This study presents a meta-analysis examining the relationship between school connectedness and four health domains that are prevalent in adolescence, have implications for adult health, and…

Marijuana use among U.S. college students is the highest since the mid-1980s. Because knowledge about marijuana and confidence in the knowledge are related to changing marijuana laws and marijuana-related messages ubiquitous in college students' information environment, we examined their relationships with use. The Structural Equation Modeling…

With bases in the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM), Protection Motivation Theory, and the Extended Parallel Process Model, this study builds a multilevel model including neighborhood risk factors, cognitive appraisals, and media information use with research hypotheses and questions developed at the individual, community, and cross levels. The…

Background: Children with asthma are often marginalized at school, including bullying victimization. The purpose of this study is to estimate the association between asthma and school or electronic bullying victimization among US high school students, and test whether the association varies significantly by sex. Methods: Pooled data from five…

Adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) has significant sequelae and is more prevalent among sexual and gender-diverse youth (SGDY). Increased parental involvement and communication has been linked to decreased prevalence of ARA and associated health risks. Parents of SGDY may have unique needs and experiences regarding communicating with their…

High-risk sexual behaviors (HRSBs; e.g., having sex without protection against pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections) are a public health problem. HRSBs disproportionally impact college students and are associated with numerous negative outcomes, such as unwanted pregnancies. Alcohol use has been strongly linked to HRSBs in college…

This study explored the relationship between sexual health indicators and the receipt of, and perceived relevance of, school-based sexuality education. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using data from 4,189 14- to 18-year-olds who participated in a cross-sectional Australian study. Receiving sexuality education was significantly…

Social network research has evidenced the role of peer effects in the adoption of behaviours. Little is known, however, about whether policies affect how behaviours are shared in a network. To contribute to this literature, we apply the concept of diffusion centrality to school tobacco policies and adolescent smoking. Diffusion centrality is a…

Background: Adolescents are required to take increased responsibility for their health. Although health literacy is implicated in adults' health decision-making and health behaviors, little is known about adolescents' health literacy and its relationship to their health behaviors. Furthermore, adolescent health literacy research overlooks…