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Poor mental well-being has been associated with negative student success outcomes among college students. Health and wellness coaching programs have been implemented in college campuses to address gaps in well-being support services. This pilot study evaluated a health and wellness coaching program at a large, urban university. A total of 499 students expressed interest in the program with 120 responding to a retrospective survey about their experience. Findings revealed that most students attended coaching for issues related to time and stress management or factors that commonly influence stress. Overall, students who participated in coaching were successful at improving their self-efficacy toward behavior change, changing their behavior, and achieving their goals. Students reported attending an average of four sessions with number of sessions attended being associated with increased confidence and motivation. In addition, autonomy, competence, and relatedness felt within the relationship with the coach were correlated with increased motivation, confidence, and readiness for behavior change. There was some relapse in terms of goal attainment observed with 17.4% of students who met their goals being unable to maintain progress. The program participants appeared to have enjoyed the process with 96% of students saying they would recommend the program to a friend. Health and wellness coaching programs may alleviate the burden of stress and other subclinical mental health concerns as well as decrease the number of students requiring services from more intensive mental health resources on campus.

Background: Campus behavioral intervention teams (BITs) provide early identification of students and/or situations that may be a risk to the community, as well as determine and implement intervention plans for a safe resolution. Methods: An evaluation of 529 faculty and staff was conducted at a large urban, southeastern research university to assess BIT knowledge, triggers for referral, referral self-efficacy, referrals, and satisfaction regarding said university's BIT (Students of Concern Assistance Team, otherwise known as SOCAT). Results: Findings revealed low levels of knowledge, self-efficacy, and referrals among faculty and staff. Utilization of SOCAT resulted in high levels of satisfaction among the process and follow-up outcomes. Discussion: Findings from this study will guide future implementation by highlighting strategies to enhance the referrals to and utility of BITs on college campuses and identifying best practices in improving faculty and staff satisfaction with the referral system process for BITs.

Introduction: Based on internal and external assets, the positive youth development approach aims to increase the capacity among adolescents to overcome challenges as they transition to adulthood. Developmental assets have been found to be positively associated with academic achievement, a variety of health promoting behaviors, and improved physical and mental health. The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess the long-term association between positive youth developmental assets with health risk and promoting behaviors. Method: A continuous scale of developmental assets was created using 30 items from Wave I of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, when participants were in 7th to 12th grades. Health behavior outcomes including cigarette use, substance use, fast food consumption, and physical activity were measured at both Wave III (age 18-26) and Wave IV (age 24-32). Path analysis was employed to assess the relationship between these observed measures. Results: The well-fitted path model revealed associations between developmental assets with each health behavior at Wave III. Developmental assets indirectly influenced each health behavior and direct associations were observed between assets with substance use and physical activity at Wave IV. Conclusion: Findings provide additional support for the developmental assets approach to adolescent health. Implications include Healthy People 2020 objectives related to tobacco and alcohol use and nutrition and physical activity.

Poor mental well-being has been associated with negative student success outcomes among college students. Health and wellness coaching programs have been implemented in college campuses to address gaps in well-being support services. This pilot study evaluated a health and wellness coaching program at a large, urban university. A total of 499 students expressed interest in the program with 120 responding to a retrospective survey about their experience. Findings revealed that most students attended coaching for issues related to time and stress management or factors that commonly influence stress. Overall, students who participated in coaching were successful at improving their self-efficacy toward behavior change, changing their behavior, and achieving their goals. Students reported attending an average of four sessions with number of sessions attended being associated with increased confidence and motivation. In addition, autonomy, competence, and relatedness felt within the relationship with the coach were correlated with increased motivation, confidence, and readiness for behavior change. There was some relapse in terms of goal attainment observed with 17.4% of students who met their goals being unable to maintain progress. The program participants appeared to have enjoyed the process with 96% of students saying they would recommend the program to a friend. Health and wellness coaching programs may alleviate the burden of stress and other subclinical mental health concerns as well as decrease the number of students requiring services from more intensive mental health resources on campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Campus behavioral intervention teams (BITs) provide early identification of students and/or situations that may be a risk to the community, as well as determine and implement intervention plans for a safe resolution. Methods: An evaluation of 529 faculty and staff was conducted at a large urban, southeastern research university to assess BIT knowledge, triggers for referral, referral self-efficacy, referrals, and satisfaction regarding said university's BIT (Students of Concern Assistance Team, otherwise known as SOCAT). Results: Findings revealed low levels of knowledge, self-efficacy, and referrals among faculty and staff. Utilization of SOCAT resulted in high levels of satisfaction among the process and follow-up outcomes. Discussion: Findings from this study will guide future implementation by highlighting strategies to enhance the referrals to and utility of BITs on college campuses and identifying best practices in improving faculty and staff satisfaction with the referral system process for BITs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant impact of physical activity during, or immediately prior to pregnancy on a range of pregnancy and birth outcomes has been established. However, lifecourse theory posits that the antecedents of poor outcomes occur across a larger trajectory of time. The objective of this study was to examine whether physical activity patterns over the lifecourse impact birth outcomes. The sample (n = 1,713) was derived from Waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and limited to women who had their first, singleton live birth between Waves III and IV; respondents who had missing data were excluded. Outcome variables included preterm birth (, Author(s): Cheryl A. Vamos[sup.1] , Sara Flory[sup.2] , Haichun Sun[sup.2] , Rita DeBate[sup.1] , Jennifer Bleck[sup.1] , Erika Thompson[sup.1] , Laura Merrell[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Community and Family [...]

Although physical activity is a key behavior targeted during the preconception period given its significant impact on pregnancy/birth outcomes and psychological well-being, few women meet national guidelines. While intrapersonal factors influencing physical activity among this population have been studied, community factors remain unexplored. The objective of this study was to examine community level predictors of physical activity among preconception women. Data from Add Health were limited to women (Wave III; age 18-28; n = 7,596) and excluded respondents who were pregnant, physically disabled, and missing data. The outcome variable was [greater than or equal to]5 instances of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in 1 week. Community predictor variables included neighborhood-level structural and social determinants (e.g., socio-demographic composition; landscape diversity; urbanization; access to resources; crime; vehicle availability). Multilevel logistic regression modeling was used to estimate the odds of engaging in [greater than or equal to]5 instances of MVPA. Few women (26 %) reported [greater than or equal to]5 instances of MVPA in 1 week. Adjusted multilevel analysis revealed women in the preconception period were more likely to report high MVPA when living in communities with larger population densities (OR 1.34, 95 % CI 1.02-1.77) and median household income greater than $50,000 (OR 1.33, 95 % CI 1.06-1.66). Additionally, a significant inverse trend was found between high MVPA and proportion of the community without a high school diploma. Findings suggest that neighborhood composition may have an impact on preconception physical activity status. Implications include increased efforts targeting community conditions for facilitating physical activity; ultimately, improving health among women and subsequent offspring., Author(s): Cheryl A. Vamos[sup.1] , Haichun Sun[sup.2] , Sara B. Flory[sup.2] , Rita DeBate[sup.1] , Ellen M. Daley[sup.1] , Erika Thompson[sup.1] , Jennifer Bleck[sup.1] , Laura Merrell[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) [...]

The purpose of this study was to test whether an interactive, web-based training program is more effective than an existing, flat-text, e-learning program at improving oral health students' knowledge, motivation, and self-efficacy to address signs of disordered eating behaviors with patients. Eighteen oral health classes of dental and dental hygiene students were randomized to either the Intervention (interactive program; n=259) or Alternative (existing program; n=58) conditions. Hierarchical linear modeling assessed for posttest differences between groups while controlling for baseline measures. Improvement among Intervention participants was superior to those who completed the Alternative program for three of the six outcomes: benefits/bar-riers, self-efficacy, and skills-based knowledge (effect sizes ranging from 0.43 to 0.87). This study thus suggests that interactive training programs may be better than flat-text e-leaming programs for improving the skills-based knowledge and self-efficacy necessary for behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]