In January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to be a public health emergency. More than 500 million cases and more than 6 million deaths have been reported, with these numbers growing each day. A major public health initiative for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic was vaccine development…

Objective: This study investigated the factors that impact the effectiveness of energy drink-related health messages. Specifically, this study examined how behavioral status moderates the effects of the temporal contexts described in messages related to energy drink consumption. Participants: A total of 823 college students enrolled in a…

Objective: Examine how changes in sleep duration, objectively measured by activity trackers, impact weight gain in incoming college freshman. Participants: Incoming college freshmen, age [greater than equal to] 18. Methods: We measured weight and daily sleep duration before college entry and through the 1st college quarter. Additionally, we…

Background: Developmentally, social relationships are critical in the lives of emerging adults; however, little research has been focused on the types of protective behaviors that individuals on college campuses engaged in during the pandemic. Purpose: This study examines predictors of emerging adults' self-protective behaviors with a focus on…

Background: Important tools in preventing the spread of COVID-19 include contract tracing and adherence to isolation guidelines after a positive diagnosis of COVID-19. This is especially relevant among college students who are often away from support systems at home, living in high-density housing, and may not experience serious symptoms from…

Employing the theory of planned behavior, this study aimed to identify how sport management students' intentions to volunteer for a sporting event were affected by their COVID-19 preventive health factors and social consciousness. From eight U.S. universities, 415 sport management students responded to a self-administered online survey. Collected…

The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is on the rise among young adults, with higher public acceptance than traditional tobacco. A study in Taiwan employed concept mapping to explore risk and benefit perceptions of e-cigarette use among college students. The study involved 100 college students from 11 Taiwanese universities, with 50…

Achieving a higher education remains a significant goal in the lives of young people. For many high school juniors and seniors, attending a college or university to continue their studies is seen as an inevitable step into adulthood. However, the high school to college transition can come with a plethora of challenges, and first-generation…

Fluoride hesitancy is a growing public health challenge and interventions to address it may need to be tailored for minoritized subgroups to address oral health inequities. The goals of this qualitative study were to investigate the extent to which an existing conceptual model on topical fluoride hesitancy is applicable to Latino parents and…

Background: Pediatric lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are a set of common childhood problems. Community-level interventions that target behavioral change among children with LUTS can improve symptoms outside of the clinic environment. Parents, navigating the home and school environments, are key in supporting healthy bladder behaviors. Thus,…

Objective: Health literacy is important while attending a residential college where daily decisions can impact one's physical and mental health and knowing who or what to trust for information is of the utmost importance in claiming more decision-making autonomy. Participants: A total of 189 students at a University in the Northeastern United…

Introduction: Influenza affected an estimated 9 to 41 million individuals from 2018 to 2023 (CDC, 2023). Despite vaccination being highly effective, rates remain low on college campuses. This project evaluated a new vaccination delivery model at a university in Northeast Florida. The Student Health Center collaborated with undergraduate nursing…

Each year excessive alcohol use costs the United States (US) economy $250 billion and results in 95,000 deaths. Binge drinking is a form of excessive alcohol use and accounts for over 70% of these statistics. High-intensity drinking (HID), an extreme measure of binge drinking, is operationally defined as drinking twice the gender-specific binge…

Objective: During public health emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 illness pandemic, it is essential to rapidly disseminate crisis messages which often contain embedded health directives. This study investigated which of three variants of the same messages (neutral tone, positive/compassionate tone, negative/fear-inducing tone) were most…

Objective: The benefits of mindfulness-training and mentoring for college students have yet to be investigated. We aimed to provide an exploratory and descriptive account of their potential benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: In February 2020, 49 undergraduates (M = 20.51 years-old; 94% female) participated in a randomized trial…