Development and validation of an instrument to assess college students' oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behavior

Oral health education emphasizes the importance of brushing, flossing, and getting regular dental exams. Some examples of oral health problems that can occur without proper oral hygiene and dental care are dental caries and gingivitis. Research has shown that a relationship exists between oral health and other health related problems. The lack of awareness, education, and services regarding oral health and hygiene can cause severe unfavorable outcomes later in life. Unique oral health issues that affect today's college students include the use of smokeless tobacco, sexually transmitted diseases, and oral piercing. Although there are many studies conducted on oral health, few are targeted towards the college aged population. The purpose of this study was to develop a valid instrument based on constructs from the Health Belief Model to measure the knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors of college students' regarding oral health and hygiene. The present study utilized a review of the literature and an eight-step process to develop and validate College Students Oral Health Knowledge, Beliefs, and Behaviors (OHKBB). The most effective way to treat oral health related problems is through prevention. Oral health education is needed to ensure that college students are aware of not only the risks but also the prevention of oral diseases. The proposed research will pave the way for programs to help individuals improve their oral hygiene and reduce their risks of oral health related problems through education by identifying the specific oral health related knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors that affect college students oral health. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and screening behaviors of college women: utilization of the health belief model

Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is currently considered the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S. It is unique from other cancers in that it presents extreme financial costs, coupled with both physiological and psychological consequences for the impacted women and their families. Lifestyle factors are known contributors to rates of breast cancer, and knowledge is essential to its prevention. Women who are classified as "emerging adults" offer a vital window of opportunity for intervention, as lifestyle patterns are often set during this time. This cross-sectional, descriptive study examined the level of breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and screening behaviors among a sample of emerging adult college women (n = 342) in the southeastern U.S. by measuring participants' confidence, health motivation, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers, in addition to their degree of worry in relation to breast cancer. Participants responded to a written, self-report 86-item questionnaire. All analyses were conducted using SAS® 9.0. Results of the study showed participants had a low level of perceived susceptibility towards breast cancer, as well as relatively low overall breast cancer knowledge. Findings also revealed a significant association between ethnicity, year in school, and family history of breast cancer and participants' general degree of breast cancer-related worry. Of the Health Belief Model constructs, confidence and perceived barriers were found to significantly predict breast self-examination. The college years provide a great opportunity for health intervention strategies. Health program planners should aim to develop interventions that are adapted to address the unique needs of women who are transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. These interventions should center on enhancing self-efficacy of breast cancer screening and reducing barriers. Education-based programs are also needed to increase women's overall knowledge and awareness of breast cancer-related issues. Such strategies have great potential to enhance women's quality of life and positively influence those with whom they closely interact. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Exploring personal values, attitudes, perceived injunctive and descriptive norms, and intrapersonal value-attitude relationships in relation to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among college students

Alcohol use among college students continues to be a public health issue in spite of health promotion activities and programming. College alcohol use literature regularly examines the impact of perceived norms on alcohol use; however, little research has been done on the influence of personal values on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between personal values, attitudes, perceived injunctive and descriptive norms, alcohol, and alcohol-related problems. The study also conceptualized and tested an idea termed intrapersonal value-attitude relationship, which was an interaction between values and attitudes. The current study employed a cross-sectional design utilizing a paper-and pencil survey administered to college students (n=910) within the classrooms. Personal attitudes and perceived descriptive norms of alcohol-related problems consistently predicted alcohol use and alcohol-related problems even after controlling for potential confounding variables. The exploration of the innovative concept of intrapersonal value-attitude relationship is a first step to examine the complex relationships between values and attitudes. Findings from this study suggest that the examination of values, attitudes, injunctive and descriptive norms are relevant and worth investigating further in regard to alcohol use and other health behaviors. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Bringing Community and Academic Scholars Together to Facilitate and Conduct Authentic Community Based Participatory Research: Project UNITED

Cultural competency, trust, and research literacy can affect the planning and implementation of sustainable community-based participatory research (CBPR). The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight: (1) the development of a CBPR pilot grant request for application; and (2) a comprehensive program supporting CBPR obesity-related grant proposals facilitated by activities designed to promote scholarly collaborations between academic researchers and the community. After a competitive application process, academic researchers and non-academic community leaders were selected to participate in activities where the final culminating project was the submission of a collaborative obesity-related CBPR grant application. Teams were comprised of a mix of academic researchers and non-academic community leaders, and each team submitted an application addressing obesity-disparities among rural predominantly African American communities in the US Deep South. Among four collaborative teams, three (75%) successfully submitted a grant application to fund an intervention addressing rural and minority obesity disparities. Among the three submitted grant applications, one was successfully funded by an internal CBPR grant, and another was funded by an institutional seed funding grant. Preliminary findings suggest that the collaborative activities were successful in developing productive scholarly relationships between researchers and community leaders. Future research will seek to understand the full-context of our findings

Transportation, childcare, lodging, and meals: Key for participant engagement and inclusion of historically underrepresented populations in the healthy brain and child development birth cohort

Abstract Introduction: Participant recruitment and retention (R&R) are well-documented challenges in longitudinal studies, especially those involving populations historically underrepresented in research and vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant people or young children and their families), as is the focus of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) birth cohort study. Subpar access to transportation, overnight lodging, childcare, or meals can compromise R&R; yet, guidance on how to overcome these “logistical barriers” is sparse. This study’s goal was to learn about the HBCD sites’ plans and develop best practice recommendations for the HBCD consortium for addressing these logistical barriers. Methods: The HBCD’s workgroups developed a survey asking the HBCD sites about their plans for supporting research-related transportation, lodging, childcare, and meals, and about the presence of institutional policies to guide their approach. Descriptive statistics described the quantitative survey data. Qualitative survey responses were brief, not warranting formal qualitative analysis; their content was summarized. Results: Twenty-eight respondents, representing unique recruitment locations across the U.S., completed the survey. The results indicated substantial heterogeneity across the respondents in their approach toward supporting research-related transportation, lodging, childcare, and meals. Three respondents were aware of institutional policies guiding research-related transportation (10.7%) or childcare (10.7%). Conclusions: This study highlighted heterogeneity in approaches and scarcity of institutional policies regarding research-related transportation, lodging, childcare, and meals, underscoring the need for guidance in this area to ensure equitable support of participant R&R across different settings and populations, so that participants are representative of the larger community, and increase research result validity and generalizability